Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 3,436 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. trimmed its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,875 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,436 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $7,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $323,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,053 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 24,400 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 117.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,848 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 998 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $185.73.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE DGX traded up $2.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $178.85. The company had a trading volume of 436,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 991,754. The stock has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.49. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $136.99 and a one year high of $182.38. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $176.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 8.81%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.46%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $153,579.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,127.84. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

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.