SVB Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 68,575 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 68,575 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $10,345,000. SVB Wealth LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Quest Diagnostics as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $976,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 764 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,053 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DGX. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Leerink Partners raised 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Quest Diagnostics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,867 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 528 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $91,138.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,737,140.91. The trade was a 1.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,144 shares of company stock worth $699,367. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX stock traded down $1.69 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $175.26. 860,159 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,057,088. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $160.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.02. The firm has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $124.25 and a 1-year high of $178.09.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

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.