V Square Quantitative Management LLC Buys 456 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 17.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,114 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 19,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 1,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 6,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 33,417 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,608,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on DGX. SVB Leerink began coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,067,904.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,904.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,910 shares of company stock worth $2,159,602 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX traded down $1.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $141.86. The company had a trading volume of 805,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,032,384. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $119.59 and a 12 month high of $145.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.86.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.22%.

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.