Aigen Investment Management LP Trims Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Aigen Investment Management LP reduced its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 33.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,216 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,093 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.3% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 24,029 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,198,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 26.3% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,481,000 after buying an additional 18,642 shares during the period. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter worth about $298,000. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $160.39 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $162.59. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $153.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728. 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.