Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 2,231 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Financial Counselors Inc. trimmed its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,231 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. owned about 0.09% of Quest Diagnostics worth $15,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on DGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $165.49 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $165.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $125.42 and a one year high of $178.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total value of $935,078.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,852,680.84. This trade represents a 7.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $789,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,479,890. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755 over the last three months. 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.