Boothbay Fund Management LLC Invests $444,000 in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,940 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $444,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $828,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637,525 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $367,180,000 after purchasing an additional 916,898 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $164,896,000 after purchasing an additional 497,995 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $67,447,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DGX. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $185.07.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total transaction of $935,078.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,852,680.84. This represents a 7.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221 in the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $177.39 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $135.27 and a twelve month high of $179.16. The company has a market capitalization of $19.80 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78.

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

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.