Cerity Partners LLC Has $6.01 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,735 shares of the medical research company's stock after buying an additional 8,094 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $6,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $327,257,000 after acquiring an additional 9,665 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $288,758,000 after purchasing an additional 129,395 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $115,621,000 after purchasing an additional 15,047 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 708,100 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $109,933,000 after buying an additional 12,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 461,887 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $71,500,000 after buying an additional 13,938 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX traded up $1.05 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $163.32. 671,973 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 920,628. The business's 50-day moving average price is $155.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $165.32. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.