Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Bought by Custom Index Systems LLC

Custom Index Systems LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,854 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 655 shares during the quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,228 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 3,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $604,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $355,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 31,436 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,742,000 after buying an additional 1,770 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,782 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on DGX. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.00.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.9 %

DGX stock opened at $162.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $155.42 and a 200-day moving average of $153.50. 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 $167.08.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. As a group, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.