MetLife Investment Management LLC Buys 591 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,528 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Barclays PLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $46,407,000 after buying an additional 78,980 shares during the last quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.1% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 50,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 34,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,024 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $201,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 45.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.73.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $175.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.81. The stock has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $134.05 and a 1-year high of $178.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.06. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.63 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.46%.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,499,370.58. This trade represents a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

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.