Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 251,735 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,862 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $58,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,965,923,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $410,151,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $151,986,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $133,388,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $124,180,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DGX. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Argus set a $260.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $262.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.70.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.6%

DGX opened at $246.68 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $171.18 and a 12 month high of $256.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $238.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.55.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 16.21%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total transaction of $5,513,005.47. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at $9,130,482.27. This represents a 37.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.72, for a total value of $2,427,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,423 shares in the company, valued at $29,714,510.56. This trade represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 33,880 shares of company stock valued at $8,232,534 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) is a provider of diagnostic information services. The company performs laboratory testing that helps physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers diagnose, treat and monitor diseases and health conditions. Its services include routine blood and other specimen testing, pathology, molecular and genetic testing, and specialized diagnostic services.

Quest Diagnostics serves a broad range of customers, including hospitals, physician practices, health plans, employers, government agencies and individual consumers.