Insider Selling: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Sells 403 Shares of Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE DGX traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $162.66. The company had a trading volume of 499,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 991,275. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.30 and a one year high of $167.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $155.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.07. The stock has a market cap of $18.16 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Net Worth Advisory Group increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 6,495 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,414 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 14,751 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 795,485 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $122,528,000 after buying an additional 77,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 4,401 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $664,000 after buying an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.69.

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.