IVY Lane Capital Management LLC Has $8.85 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

IVY Lane Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 21.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. Quest Diagnostics accounts for approximately 5.0% of IVY Lane Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. IVY Lane Capital Management LLC owned about 0.05% of Quest Diagnostics worth $8,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after acquiring an additional 345,754 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter valued at $729,000. Arjuna Capital increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 406,643 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $54,222,000 after purchasing an additional 11,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $160.44 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $17.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $162.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Insider Activity

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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 14.80 % 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 over the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.