Fmr LLC Sells 127,281 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

FMR LLC trimmed its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 10.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,113,689 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 127,281 shares during the period. FMR LLC owned about 1.00% of Quest Diagnostics worth $172,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $161.68. The stock had a trading volume of 255,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 915,039. The company has a market cap of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $155.77 and a 200 day moving average of $149.41. 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 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business's revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 40.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $164.58.

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.