Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Makes New Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,838 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $140,472,000. Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,070,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 36.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,001,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,884,000 after purchasing an additional 538,377 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,554,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $433,153,000 after buying an additional 388,162 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,342,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.67.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of DGX opened at $137.30 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $15.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $119.59 and a 1 year high of $145.62. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.82.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate 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.