Versant Capital Management Inc Boosts Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 340.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $38,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $817,117,000 after acquiring an additional 70,578 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,838,000 after purchasing an additional 39,217 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,257,000 after buying an additional 9,665 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,758,000 after buying an additional 129,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $115,621,000 after buying an additional 15,047 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $152.40 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.75.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.15.

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.