Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 104,495 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 543,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,495 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $81,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $1,363,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $355,000. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 8,669.8% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,178 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,653,000 after buying an additional 61,469 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on DGX. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.69.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $171.63 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.30 and a 52 week high of $172.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.57. The firm has a market cap of $19.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.