Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Purchased by Occidental Asset Management LLC

Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,341 shares during the quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.3% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 72,385 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,821,000 after acquiring an additional 4,280 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 24,129 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after buying an additional 11,145 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at $17,474,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 11,094 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after buying an additional 1,358 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $136.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,284,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,392. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $119.59 and a 1-year high of $145.62. The stock has a market cap of $15.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.67.

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.