Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. Has $464,000 Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,075 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 425 shares during the quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $1,363,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares during the period. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $355,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,650,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $189.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,792 shares of company stock worth $465,998 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX opened at $171.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $19.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $123.66 and a 12-month high of $176.44. The business has a 50 day moving average of $158.83 and a 200-day moving average of $156.47.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

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.