Russell Investments Group Ltd. Decreases Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,944 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,879 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $12,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 103.3% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 148,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $20,441,000 after acquiring an additional 75,315 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,483,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 14.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,613,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $318,517,000 after buying an additional 333,947 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 201.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,400,000 after buying an additional 21,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 16,270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DGX. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. TheStreet lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $246,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at $1,880,900. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,910 shares of company stock worth $2,159,602 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $137.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $130.33 and a 200 day moving average of $131.77. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $119.59 and a 12 month high of $145.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current 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.