Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Grows Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 86.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,044 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,637,525 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,690,021 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $404,764,000 after purchasing an additional 73,368 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,268,990 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $342,300,000 after purchasing an additional 26,214 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,196,429 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $180,493,000 after purchasing an additional 188,402 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,137,114 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $171,545,000 after purchasing an additional 23,425 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE DGX traded up $3.40 on Friday, reaching $170.81. 1,421,070 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,200,100. The business's fifty day moving average price is $174.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $144.87 and a fifty-two week high of $182.38.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.05. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. Quest Diagnostics's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is 38.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI set a $185.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $186.00.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $375,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,436,500. This trade represents a 20.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total value of $153,579.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,471,127.84. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,353 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,510. 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.