Legal & General Group Plc Has $112.36 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 744,774 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 193,894 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $112,357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.33.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $163.82 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $168.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $125.42 and a fifty-two week high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,499,370.58. This represents a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.