Mackenzie Financial Corp Grows Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,002 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,518 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $828,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,525 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $367,180,000 after buying an additional 916,898 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 497,995 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $67,447,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 8,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,127.84. This trade represents a 9.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 directly owns 38,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,479,890. This trade represents a 10.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,263 shares of company stock valued at $7,979,355 over the last ninety days. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $173.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 742,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 988,827. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $135.47 and a fifty-two week high of $179.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $171.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.52. 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 (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.06. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on DGX. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price 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. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Seven equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.