Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Invests $205,000 in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,321 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 over the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of DGX opened at $160.44 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $162.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $153.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.47. The firm has a market cap of $17.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

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.