Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Purchased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 39.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,052 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,829 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $828,265,000 after buying an additional 1,637,525 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $367,180,000 after acquiring an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $164,896,000 after acquiring an additional 497,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $67,447,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,499,370.58. This represents a 23.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total value of $90,794.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,109,826.76. The trade was a 0.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,250 shares of company stock worth $9,188,295 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.6%

DGX opened at $175.93 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $169.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $135.47 and a 12 month high of $179.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.73.

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.