Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Sells 19,568 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 35.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,557 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 19,568 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 126,117 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,263,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth approximately $1,061,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 560.2% in the second quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 13,501 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,848,000 after buying an additional 11,456 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.5% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 363,453 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,419,000 after buying an additional 43,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 18.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 147,469 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $20,186,000 after purchasing an additional 23,150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on DGX. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $60,093.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,118.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of DGX opened at $154.71 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $151.11 and its 200 day moving average is $141.63. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $119.59 and a fifty-two week high of $159.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.38%.

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.