Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab Sells 53,024 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab cut its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 86.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,322 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 53,024 shares during the quarter. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,292 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Ossiam lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% in the third quarter. Ossiam now owns 1,059 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $202,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,180 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $211.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $201.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.99. The firm has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $165.78 and a 12-month high of $219.20.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.73.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

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.