Wasatch Advisors LP Decreases Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Wasatch Advisors LP trimmed its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,647 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,940,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 shares during the period. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $355,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,650,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 26,428 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,987,000 after acquiring an additional 3,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of several research reports. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $181.33.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,499,370.58. This represents a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 7.8 %

DGX stock traded up $12.70 on Tuesday, hitting $174.56. 533,003 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 960,394. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $128.38 and a twelve month high of $178.87. The business's fifty day moving average is $168.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.43.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is 41.61%.

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.