Colonial Trust Advisors Has $2.77 Million Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Colonial Trust Advisors lowered its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,370 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 782 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DGX. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in 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 buying an additional 194 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.33.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.6 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $163.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $168.48 and a 200-day moving average of $159.77. The company has a market cap of $18.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $125.42 and a one year high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at $21,499,370.58. The trade was a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.