Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Takes $630,000 Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $630,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $976,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total value of $103,277.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,813,096.55. This represents a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 9,514 shares of company stock worth $1,634,445 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $173.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, 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 $178.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.78.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $189.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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.