BankPlus Trust Department Purchases New Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,596,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,544.4% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 15,523 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,346,000 after purchasing an additional 14,579 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 25,020 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,775,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,693 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 5,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on DGX shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Seven 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $172.44 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $156.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.66 and a one year high of $172.91. The company has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total transaction of $103,277.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,813,096.55. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,792 shares of company stock valued at $465,998 over the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company 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.