Madison Asset Management LLC Buys 2,205 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Madison Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 28.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,022 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 2,205 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position 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 valued at $828,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,525 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% in 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 buying an additional 73,368 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% in 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 buying an additional 26,214 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $191,823,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DGX. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Nine 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $185.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total transaction of $153,579.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,127.84. The trade was a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 8.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX stock traded down $3.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $168.38. 1,877,511 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,283,198. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $140.71 and a twelve month high of $182.38.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. Quest Diagnostics's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.32%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.