Commonwealth Financial Services LLC Sells 100 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Commonwealth Financial Services LLC cut its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,219 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth approximately $225,000. Courier Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 39.7% during the third quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 4,999 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 23.7% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444 shares in the last quarter. Sebold Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,709 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,904,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Barclays increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.33.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX traded up $2.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $159.21. 66,493 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 920,621. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $152.88 and a 200-day moving average of $144.48. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $121.60 and a 12-month high of $159.94.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.38%.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.