Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by Valley National Advisers Inc.

Valley National Advisers Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 10.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,722 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 418 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised 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 buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 3.1 %

DGX opened at $140.90 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $119.59 and a 12 month high of $145.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $139.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.79.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Truist Financial upped 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. Barclays raised 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.