Tidal Investments LLC Sells 4,656 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Tidal Investments LLC trimmed its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 51.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,375 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 4,656 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Centerpoint Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 51.5% in the 2nd quarter. Centerpoint Advisors LLC now owns 362 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DGX shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.15.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of DGX traded up $1.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $153.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,344,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 917,121. The company has a market cap of $17.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $157.03 and a 200 day moving average of $150.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is 40.32%.

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.