PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Has $5.72 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 37,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,481 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $5,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,117,000 after buying an additional 70,578 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $404,838,000 after buying an additional 39,217 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after buying an additional 113,956 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after buying an additional 151,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 736,433 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $111,098,000 after buying an additional 28,333 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.0 %

DGX opened at $166.43 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $125.09 and a fifty-two week high of $178.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $162.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.94.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. As a group, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total value of $935,078.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,852,680.84. This represents a 7.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 528 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $91,138.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,737,140.91. This represents a 1.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,514 shares of company stock valued at $1,634,445. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.23.

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.