Xponance Inc. Buys 795 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,401 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,363,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 shares during the period. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $355,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,650,000 after acquiring an additional 21,958 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,157 shares of company stock worth $2,423,755. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $166.96 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $165.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.60. The firm has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $125.42 and a 1 year high of $178.87. 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 (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. On average, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.38.

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.