Toroso Investments LLC Buys 1,236 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Toroso Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX – Get Rating) by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,742 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Toroso Investments LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,156,902 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,736,910,000 after purchasing an additional 90,362 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.0% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,223,518 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $395,494,000 after purchasing an additional 210,961 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 50.4% in the third quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,692,947 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $207,783,000 after purchasing an additional 567,417 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,514,577 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $207,286,000 after purchasing an additional 8,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,240,043 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $164,901,000 after purchasing an additional 55,298 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $131.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $143.40 and a 200-day moving average of $141.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 0.95. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $120.40 and a 52-week high of $158.34.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The medical research company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.26 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 18.84%. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was down 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 10th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 33.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 1,415 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.42, for a total value of $200,109.30. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,440 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,577,604.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DGX. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $143.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.91.

About Quest Diagnostics

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Quest Diagnostics, Inc engages in the provision of diagnostic testing, information and services. It operates through the Diagnostic Information Services (DIS) and All Other segments. The DIS segment offers diagnostic information services to patients, clinicians, hospitals, health plans, and employers.