Citigroup Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 13.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 126,179 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,695 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.11% of Quest Diagnostics worth $19,589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,572 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,292,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 708,100 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $109,933,000 after acquiring an additional 12,565 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,363,000. Finally, Hilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,842,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.1 %

DGX opened at $162.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $165.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $155.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.79.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DGX. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an "in-line" rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Nine equities 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $164.58.

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.