Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank cut its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,178 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Arjuna Capital increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.8% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,064 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DGX. Barclays upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $160.39 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $153.84 and a 200-day moving average of $147.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $162.59. The stock has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728 over the last three months. 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.