Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 48.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,979 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,853,151,000 after acquiring an additional 345,754 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,257,000 after buying an additional 9,665 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,758,000 after buying an additional 129,395 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 681,636 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $90,733,000 after purchasing an additional 79,152 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 46.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 526,479 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,080,000 after acquiring an additional 167,623 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $155.93 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $160.95. 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 company has a market capitalization of $17.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $153.38 and a 200-day moving average of $145.37.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.38%.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.