Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Bought by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 38,735 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,094 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $6,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,966,000 after buying an additional 20,800 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 19.7% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,022 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 178,191 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $23,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 218.2% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,718 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 7,350 shares during the period. Finally, LBP AM SA increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 108.8% during the 1st quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 7,016 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 3,656 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $163.36 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.23 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $165.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $155.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.