Riverwater Partners LLC Buys 152 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Riverwater Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,358 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.9% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,915 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at about $678,000. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 28,444 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,419,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 48.3% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 3,685 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $572,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Leerink Partners raised Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.57.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $164.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $125.42 and a 12-month high of $178.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.49.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,499,370.58. The trade was a 23.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.