Hancock Whitney Corp Acquires 1,337 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,665 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,337 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $144.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.33.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $152.99 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $150.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $141.09. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $119.59 and a 1-year high of $159.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $17.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $60,093.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $718,118.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.