Nomura Holdings Inc. Takes $554,000 Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,674 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

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

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.0%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $178.18 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $170.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $19.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.52. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $135.47 and a twelve month high of $179.99.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 824 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total value of $142,230.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,178 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,940,814.58. This represents a 1.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 value of $91,138.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,737,140.91. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,589 shares of company stock worth $9,251,080. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.73.

Quest Diagnostics 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.