JGP Wealth Management LLC Has $15.06 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 99,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the quarter. Quest Diagnostics comprises about 1.9% of JGP Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $15,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $151.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32. The business’s fifty day moving average is $156.56 and its 200 day moving average is $152.47.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. Research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DGX. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 report on Monday, October 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.15.

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.