Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by Captrust Financial Advisors

Captrust Financial Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,885 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 165 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,156,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Davis Selected Advisers grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,257,000 after buying an additional 9,665 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,758,000 after purchasing an additional 129,395 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $115,621,000 after purchasing an additional 15,047 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after buying an additional 151,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 708,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $109,933,000 after buying an additional 12,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.1 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $158.54 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month 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 stock has a market cap of $17.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.67.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on DGX shares. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

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.