Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC Has $1.55 Million Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC decreased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,982 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 187 shares during the period. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,481,000 after purchasing an additional 18,642 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,853,151,000 after acquiring an additional 345,754 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter valued at $729,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,966,000 after purchasing an additional 20,800 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 892.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,177 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,819,000 after purchasing an additional 19,044 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’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 $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $159.29 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.89. 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 $160.95.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DGX. Citigroup increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective 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. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.58.

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.