Tidal Investments LLC decreased its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 51.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,375 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,656 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,572 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $216,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was 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.
A number of research firms recently weighed in on DGX. UBS Group raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.15.
Check Out Our Latest Report on DGX
Shares of DGX stock opened at $153.10 on Friday. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $123.04 and a 12-month high of $165.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $157.03 and a 200-day moving average of $150.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89.
Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.32%.
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.
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
Before you consider Quest Diagnostics, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Quest Diagnostics wasn't on the list.
While Quest Diagnostics currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.