Cypress Capital Group Decreases Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Cypress Capital Group lowered its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 41.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,190 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,566 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 5,508 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $831,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 271,558 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $40,967,000 after purchasing an additional 30,488 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 736,433 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $111,098,000 after acquiring an additional 28,333 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $554,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

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Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 9,514 shares of company stock valued at $1,634,445. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.2 %

DGX traded up $3.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $175.49. 1,092,087 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,079,727. The firm's fifty day moving average is $161.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.60. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $125.09 and a 1-year high of $178.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. 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 (DPR) is 41.61%.

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.