Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Acquired by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,823 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $7,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,260 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $140,472,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 45,711 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,303,000 after purchasing an additional 3,049 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 41,413 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,710,000 after buying an additional 5,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $1,473,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $60,093.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $718,118.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $152.99 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $119.59 and a 1 year high of $159.36. The stock has a market cap of $17.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.88.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on DGX. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $144.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.33.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.