Creative Planning Buys 185 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,592 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DGX. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 50.9% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 41,796 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,562,000 after acquiring an additional 14,090 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,481,000 after acquiring an additional 18,642 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after acquiring an additional 345,754 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at approximately $729,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,966,000 after acquiring an additional 20,800 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $155.92 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $160.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.92. The firm has a market cap of $17.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.38%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.