Deutsche Bank AG Acquires 174,944 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 35.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 666,043 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 174,944 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $100,479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Dean Capital Management lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 11,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,694,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 4,402 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 18,399 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,776,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $484,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 14,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,180,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of DGX stock opened at $176.96 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $169.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $135.47 and a 1-year high of $179.32. The company has a market cap of $19.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $434,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,575 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,797,750. The trade was a 19.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,499,370.58. The trade was a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,250 shares of company stock valued at $9,188,295. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on DGX. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.73.

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.