Everence Capital Management Inc. Sells 3,250 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Everence Capital Management Inc. cut its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 27.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,250 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 438,977 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $68,144,000 after purchasing an additional 68,844 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 45.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,240 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on DGX. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.15.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE DGX opened at $151.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The business’s fifty day moving average is $157.03 and its 200 day moving average is $151.55.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Quest Diagnostics 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.