Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 2,789 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 9.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,700 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,789 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 9,571 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 68.8% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 1,759 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 126,117 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,407 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 11.8% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,188 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $984,000 after purchasing an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE DGX opened at $155.32 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.04 and a 52 week high of $165.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $155.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.42.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.