Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 1,112 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 159,970 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,112 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $24,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $1,363,000. Hilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $8,842,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.3% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 36,441 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $1,079,000. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.5% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 42,641 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,820 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $162.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $154.97 and a 200-day moving average of $148.63. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32. The company has a market cap of $18.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on DGX. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.