California Public Employees Retirement System Has $46.60 Million Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 32.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 237,792 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 112,457 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.21% of Quest Diagnostics worth $46,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Key Financial Inc raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% during the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $217.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $207.44 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $165.30 and a 12 month high of $219.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $200.87 and a 200-day moving average of $196.50. The company has a market capitalization of $22.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The business had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.