Thomasville National Bank Sells 75 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Thomasville National Bank cut its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Thomasville National Bank’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DGX. Brookstone Capital Management raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 63.2% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,717 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 24,201 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,651,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 9,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $153.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $165.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.38. 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 (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.15.

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.