Insider Selling: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) CAO Sells 18,755 Shares of Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE DGX traded up $1.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $156.20. 524,857 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 916,494. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $153.48 and its 200-day moving average is $146.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $160.95.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors 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 yield of 1.92%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.58.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. IVY Lane Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 21.3% in the third quarter. IVY Lane Capital Management LLC now owns 57,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,849,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,022,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 329,800 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $51,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 98.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 18,967 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,945,000 after purchasing an additional 9,396 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at $286,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.