Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Has $35.65 Million Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lessened its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 187,083 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,374 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $35,654,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth approximately $238,122,000. M&G PLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 256.5% in the second quarter. M&G PLC now owns 1,072,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $193,090,000 after buying an additional 771,824 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,039,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $545,318,000 after buying an additional 744,102 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,932,000 after buying an additional 433,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $287,337,000 after acquiring an additional 426,399 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total value of $1,488,683.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,410,745.50. The trade was a 51.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.76, for a total transaction of $239,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,267,015.12. This represents a 6.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 64,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,318,360 over the last quarter. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 17th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.27.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $184.66 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.67, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.64. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $150.14 and a one year high of $197.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 8.91%.Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 37.56%.

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.