J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Increases Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 57.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,815 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,627 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. G&S Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $85,932,000 after buying an additional 433,764 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at $4,713,000. TKG Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 125.1% in the third quarter. TKG Advisors LLC now owns 14,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,782,000 after buying an additional 8,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 144.2% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 14,424 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,749,000 after acquiring an additional 8,518 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total transaction of $10,589,976.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,158,665.60. This represents a 31.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.76, for a total transaction of $239,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,037 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,267,015.12. This trade represents a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last quarter. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DGX. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $197.27.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $184.15 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $20.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $181.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.37. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $153.99 and a 12-month high of $197.55.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

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.