Truvestments Capital LLC Takes Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,514 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,111 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 12.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 13,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,126,000 after buying an additional 1,569 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 30.0% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 84,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,175,000 after acquiring an additional 19,570 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 26.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 38,735 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,014,000 after acquiring an additional 8,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 8,669.8% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,178 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,653,000 after acquiring an additional 61,469 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.7 %

DGX stock opened at $162.49 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $154.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.63.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on DGX shares. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.