Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Has $2.51 Million Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp cut its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,356 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,591 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DGX. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $144.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $60,093.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,118.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE DGX opened at $156.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.41 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $119.59 and a 12 month high of $159.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $149.56 and its 200 day moving average is $140.26.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. Research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.38%.

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.