Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Raises Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 121.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 3,665 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $323,000. Cresset Asset Management LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $287,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 18,599 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,718 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% 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, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% 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. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $217.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $206.59 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $201.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $165.78 and a 52-week high of $219.20. The company has a market cap of $22.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

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.