Madison Investment Advisors LLC Invests $1.18 Million in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 7,817 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,179,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 28,368 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,280,000 after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 26,044 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,932,000 after acquiring an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management B.V. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 138,146 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $20,840,000 after acquiring an additional 73,871 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 97.0% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,455 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,275,000 after acquiring an additional 4,164 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,650 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,964,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total value of $935,078.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,852,680.84. The trade was a 7.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755 in the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of DGX opened at $166.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $125.42 and a 12-month high of $178.87. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $165.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $158.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.