GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Acquires Shares of 2,793 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,793 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $421,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $355,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,650,000 after purchasing an additional 21,958 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $10,345,000. Finally, MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $545,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $185.73.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.3%

DGX stock traded up $0.50 during trading on Thursday, hitting $171.88. 783,044 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 990,924. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.52. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $135.47 and a 1 year high of $179.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.50.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.46%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,479,890. This trade represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at $21,499,370.58. The trade was a 23.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,633 shares of company stock valued at $8,914,433 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

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.