Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) EVP Sells $935,078.10 in Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total transaction of $935,078.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,852,680.84. This trade represents a 7.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 2.2 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $175.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $161.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.60. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $125.09 and a 52 week high of $178.09.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.61%.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $828,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637,525 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $367,180,000 after acquiring an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $164,896,000 after buying an additional 497,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $67,447,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.23.

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.