Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 14.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 195,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 31,963 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $38,204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of DGX. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 346.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,329,000 after acquiring an additional 19,361 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $275,895,000 after acquiring an additional 228,271 shares in the last quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,024,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 694.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 179,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,175,000 after purchasing an additional 157,031 shares during the period. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 178.7% during the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 171,987 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,847,000 after purchasing an additional 110,280 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.5%

DGX stock opened at $207.44 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $165.30 and a twelve month high of $219.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $22.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.50.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 38.01%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.