Lifeworks Advisors LLC Purchases 796 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 22.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,401 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 796 shares during the quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 764 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,053 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total value of $935,078.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,068 shares in the company, valued at $11,852,680.84. This represents a 7.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 528 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $91,138.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,737,140.91. This trade represents a 1.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,514 shares of company stock valued at $1,634,445. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $175.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. 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 Incorporated has a 12 month low of $125.09 and a 12 month high of $178.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.60.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 41.61%.

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.