Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Bought by Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,265 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 679 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Arjuna Capital raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.8% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,064 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.7 %

DGX opened at $160.55 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $153.69 and a 200-day moving average of $147.10. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $162.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

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.