Townsquare Capital LLC Grows Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,659 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $976,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $194,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 36.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 171,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,655,000 after acquiring an additional 45,577 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 5,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $869,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $157.35 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $165.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DGX. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.58.

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.