The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 31.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 225,981 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54,287 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.20% of Quest Diagnostics worth $34,091,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $828,265,000 after buying an additional 1,637,525 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $367,180,000 after purchasing an additional 916,898 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $164,896,000 after purchasing an additional 497,995 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $67,447,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,499,370.58. This trade represents a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,903 shares of company stock valued at $9,460,221 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $177.39 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a 12 month low of $135.27 and a 12 month high of $179.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $169.38 and a 200 day moving average of $161.79. The firm has a market cap of $19.80 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.06. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.