Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC reduced its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,888 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,420 shares during the quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $355,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,650,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. Clean Yield Group boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 26,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,987,000 after acquiring an additional 3,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $10,345,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $434,350.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,797,750. The trade was a 19.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,623 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 55,903 shares of company stock valued at $9,460,221 in the last quarter. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $173.75 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $134.50 and a 12-month high of $178.87. The company has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $168.96 and a 200 day moving average of $161.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.06. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.63 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.73.

Quest Diagnostics 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.