Wasatch Advisors LP Has $4.62 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Wasatch Advisors LP decreased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AGP Franklin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $858,000. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $303,000. Strategies Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $238,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,480 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $977,000 after buying an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 52,153 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,868,000 after buying an additional 2,380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total value of $90,794.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,356 shares in the company, valued at $12,109,826.76. This trade represents a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,903 shares of company stock valued at $9,460,221 in the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of DGX opened at $164.62 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $125.42 and a 52 week high of $178.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

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.