Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 851 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 55,846 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $8,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.3% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,991 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,795,000 after buying an additional 744 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $404,838,000 after purchasing an additional 39,217 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,407,000 after purchasing an additional 78,980 shares during the period. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth $4,167,000. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of DGX opened at $154.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $156.48 and its 200 day moving average is $150.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DGX. StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $168.92.

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.