Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,258 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $1,228,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,637,525 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% in the 4th 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. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% in the 4th 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 lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% in the 4th 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 bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $191,823,000. 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 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,471,127.84. This trade represents a 9.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX traded down $0.28 during trading on Monday, reaching $168.28. 235,709 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,197,464. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $140.71 and a fifty-two week high of $182.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $18.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.35 EPS. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $186.00.

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.