55,000 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Bought by Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC

Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 55,000 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $8,539,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on DGX. Piper Sandler raised 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 lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX traded down $1.72 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $160.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 508,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 915,142. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $155.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.54. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The company has a market capitalization of $17.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. 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 (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics 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.