Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,050 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,966,000 after buying an additional 20,800 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at about $1,363,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 292.5% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 3,527 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,412,000 after acquiring an additional 6,619 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,993,000 after acquiring an additional 238,007 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Nine equities 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.7 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $162.49 on Tuesday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $154.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.