Bridgewater Associates LP Has $13.78 Million Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Bridgewater Associates LP lowered its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 38.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,739 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 54,979 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned about 0.08% of Quest Diagnostics worth $13,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter valued at $194,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 171,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,655,000 after buying an additional 45,577 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $163.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.23 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $155.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.