Wedmont Private Capital Grows Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,965 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth about $48,783,000. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at approximately $46,432,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,853,151,000 after purchasing an additional 345,754 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,993,000 after purchasing an additional 238,007 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,028,000 after purchasing an additional 206,640 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value of $60,093.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 5,019 shares in the company, valued at $718,118.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on DGX. Citigroup upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $144.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.92.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $148.67 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a 1 year low of $120.10 and a 1 year high of $159.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $143.34. The firm has a market cap of $16.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.49%.

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.