Dunhill Financial LLC Sells 113 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Dunhill Financial LLC reduced its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 29.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 277 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 113 shares during the quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $42,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 1,637,525 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,690,021 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,764,000 after purchasing an additional 73,368 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 valued at $367,180,000 after buying an additional 916,898 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,268,990 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $342,300,000 after buying an additional 26,214 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $191,823,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.73.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.3 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $176.56 on Thursday. 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 52-week low of $135.47 and a 52-week high of $179.32. The company has a market cap of $19.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $162.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total value of $103,277.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,813,096.55. This represents a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at $21,499,370.58. This trade represents a 23.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,250 shares of company stock worth $9,188,295. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company 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.