Insider Selling: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Sells 4,643 Shares of Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,117 shares in the company, valued at $6,479,890. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $166.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $164.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $158.53. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $125.42 and a 1 year high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.2% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,562 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 92.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,920 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,093,000 after acquiring an additional 9,559 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,412,000 after acquiring an additional 6,619 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at $286,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DGX. Truist Financial increased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.38.

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.