Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 197 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares during the period. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at about $355,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,650,000 after acquiring an additional 21,958 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 26,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,987,000 after purchasing an additional 3,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.38.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX stock opened at $166.96 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $125.42 and a 12-month high of $178.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. 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 currently 41.61%.

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.