Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Sells 58,599 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 181,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 58,599 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned approximately 0.16% of Quest Diagnostics worth $27,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DGX. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in 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 last quarter. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at about $74,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $151.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.57.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given 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 1.98%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.