Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC Trims Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 197 shares during the period. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter valued at $82,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $151.34 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $156.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.