Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Stock Position Lifted by Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 15.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $637,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% in the first quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 192,370 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,549,000 after purchasing an additional 11,006 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 19.6% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,181 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth $223,000. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,525 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 24,797 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,196,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. 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. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.73.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $177.43 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $135.47 and a one year high of $179.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.81 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $171.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.34.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 40.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $789,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,117 shares in the company, valued at $6,479,890. The trade was a 10.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total value of $153,579.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,471,127.84. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,263 shares of company stock worth $7,979,355. 8.16% of the stock is currently 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.