Pacer Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 201.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,327 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 6,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 97.5% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,878 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after acquiring an additional 3,889 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 15,923 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 191,048 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,165,000 after acquiring an additional 34,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 68,068 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,316,000 after acquiring an additional 12,298 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $144.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,843,610.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,904.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202 over the last 90 days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $133.11 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $148.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 5th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.92%.

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.