Sanctuary Advisors LLC Acquires 3,412 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,381 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,412 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $817,117,000 after acquiring an additional 70,578 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,838,000 after purchasing an additional 39,217 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,621,000 after purchasing an additional 15,047 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after buying an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 708,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $109,933,000 after buying an additional 12,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.69.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.2 %

DGX stock opened at $172.44 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.66 and a fifty-two week high of $172.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $157.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.68.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total transaction of $103,277.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,813,096.55. This represents a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,792 shares of company stock worth $465,998 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.