HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Acquires Shares of 4,527 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,527 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $585,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 79.3% during the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 242 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, SVB Leerink started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.67.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $137.32 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $137.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.66. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $119.59 and a twelve month high of $145.62. The stock has a market cap of $15.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.38%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.