Waterway Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Waterway Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,617 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 662 shares during the period. Waterway Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,363,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,650,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $189.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total value of $90,794.85. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,109,826.76. The trade was a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total value of $103,277.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,845 shares in the company, valued at $6,813,096.55. The trade was a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,792 shares of company stock worth $465,998. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX stock opened at $171.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $123.66 and a 1 year high of $176.44. The company has a market cap of $19.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $159.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.61%.

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.