AE Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 2,284 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,284 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 254.9% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,696 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,970,000 after purchasing an additional 15,582 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,530,000. XTX Topco Ltd raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 127.9% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 6,791 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 3,811 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 4,449 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $609,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 4,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX opened at $154.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.63. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $119.59 and a fifty-two week high of $159.36.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares in the company, valued at $718,118.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $144.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.33.

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.