Crestmont Private Wealth LLC Increases Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Crestmont Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,149 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $152.84 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.