Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $172.45, but opened at $168.73. Quest Diagnostics shares last traded at $165.14, with a volume of 121,622 shares changing hands.

Specifically, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $789,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,479,890. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.0 %

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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $164.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.61%.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.