Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $1.36 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 109 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 79.3% in the fourth quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 242 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Headinvest LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth about $36,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $246,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.5 %

DGX stock opened at $138.96 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.71. The company has a market cap of $15.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.97. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $119.59 and a fifty-two week high of $145.62.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.38%.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

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.