Mizuho Securities USA LLC Increases Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5,168.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 442,835 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $70,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,481,000 after purchasing an additional 18,642 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,853,151,000 after buying an additional 345,754 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at $729,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,966,000 after acquiring an additional 20,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 292.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This represents a 14.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $160.39 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $162.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $153.84 and a 200-day moving average of $147.26.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.58.

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.