Private Advisor Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 38.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,001 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,662 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 12.3% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,554,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $433,153,000 after buying an additional 388,162 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,476,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $479,357,000 after purchasing an additional 62,114 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,613,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $318,517,000 after purchasing an additional 333,947 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,001,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,884,000 after purchasing an additional 538,377 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,798,803 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $219,202,000 after purchasing an additional 92,542 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $144.34 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.58. The company has a market cap of $16.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.97. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $119.59 and a one year high of $145.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 38.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,880,900. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,910 shares of company stock worth $2,159,602. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.