SG Americas Securities LLC Trims Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 88.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,287 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 105,060 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DGX shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $144.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.92.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 2.6 %

DGX opened at $146.83 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $120.10 and a 12 month high of $159.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $152.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.99.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $60,093.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,118.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.