Sit Investment Associates Inc. Has $11.34 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,154 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,705 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc. owned about 0.07% of Quest Diagnostics worth $11,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,499,370.58. This trade represents a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221 over the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $181.33.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.1 %

Quest Diagnostics stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $163.88. The stock had a trading volume of 783,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 940,248. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $125.42 and a one year high of $178.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $18.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $168.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.77.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

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.