Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Sells 60,961 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 77.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,026 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 60,961 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,363,000. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $14,412,000 after buying an additional 6,619 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $37,993,000 after buying an additional 238,007 shares during the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 8,669.8% in the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,178 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $9,653,000 after buying an additional 61,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 326.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 15,882 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,114,000 after buying an additional 12,154 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $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 insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DGX traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $158.16. 839,598 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 914,308. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $156.24 and a 200-day moving average of $149.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.