Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab Has $1.63 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab trimmed its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 86.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,322 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 53,024 shares during the period. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 346.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 24,949 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,329,000 after acquiring an additional 19,361 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 1,589,883 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $275,895,000 after purchasing an additional 228,271 shares during the last quarter. Capital Management Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,024,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 694.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 179,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,175,000 after buying an additional 157,031 shares during the period. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 178.7% in the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 171,987 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $29,847,000 after buying an additional 110,280 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $220.73.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $211.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $201.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.99. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $165.78 and a fifty-two week high of $219.20.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.