Insider Selling: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) EVP Sells 5,370 Shares of Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total transaction of $935,078.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,852,680.84. This represents a 7.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX traded up $3.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $175.49. 1,092,087 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,079,727. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.60. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $125.09 and a fifty-two week high of $178.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 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 predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,843 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 6,495 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,811 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,140,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $976,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $178.23.

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.