Quest Partners LLC Sells 9,521 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Quest Partners LLC trimmed its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 52.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,566 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 9,521 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 26.3% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter valued at $729,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2,080.0% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 872 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 63.3% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 5,208 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $694,000 after acquiring an additional 2,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 33.8% in the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,521 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,405 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 value of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This represents a 14.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.6 %

DGX opened at $161.18 on Wednesday. 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 $162.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $154.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

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.