Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Decreases Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC cut its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 181,364 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 58,599 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.16% of Quest Diagnostics worth $27,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $817,117,000 after purchasing an additional 70,578 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $404,838,000 after buying an additional 39,217 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $115,621,000 after acquiring an additional 15,047 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $116,018,000 after acquiring an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 708,100 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $109,933,000 after purchasing an additional 12,565 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX stock traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $151.31. 760,037 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 600,221. The company has a market cap of $16.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $165.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $156.40 and a 200 day moving average of $152.68.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

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.