Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by Valley National Advisers Inc.

Valley National Advisers Inc. cut its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 45.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,245 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,020 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at about $1,363,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $355,000. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 worth $9,653,000 after acquiring an additional 61,469 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Leerink Partners raised Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $162.77 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $167.08. The firm has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.66.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

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

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.