Metis Global Partners LLC Buys 350 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,210 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after buying an additional 345,754 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,257,000 after acquiring an additional 9,665 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,758,000 after purchasing an additional 129,395 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $115,621,000 after purchasing an additional 15,047 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 461,887 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $71,500,000 after purchasing an additional 13,938 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $160.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $17.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $153.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.41. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $162.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. As a group, 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.