Lindbrook Capital LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 120.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 415 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $57,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 103.3% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 148,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $20,441,000 after buying an additional 75,315 shares in the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $1,483,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,613,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $318,517,000 after purchasing an additional 333,947 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 201.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 21,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 16,270 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total value of $316,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,067,904.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DGX. TheStreet cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $135.47 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.09, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $119.59 and a 12 month high of $147.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $128.89 and its 200 day moving average is $131.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. Research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.92%.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.