Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. Has $363,000 Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. cut its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,406 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 730 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,524.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 24,023 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 22,544 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1,525.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 1,105 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,431,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction 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 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. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $151.31 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $156.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.83. The stock has a market cap of $16.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.15.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.