Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 15.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 37,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,718 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $5,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of DGX. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $439,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,745 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 17,620 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,658,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 103,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,686,000 after purchasing an additional 11,145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on DGX. UBS Group boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $167.94 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $125.42 and a fifty-two week high of $178.87. The company has a market capitalization of $18.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $164.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,157 shares of company stock worth $2,423,755. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.