Olstein Capital Management L.P. Purchases 9,000 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 15.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the quarter. Quest Diagnostics comprises approximately 1.5% of Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $8,918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 79.3% in the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 242 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Barclays raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX traded up $4.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $140.90. 808,361 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 989,989. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $119.59 and a 52 week high of $145.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $139.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.65 billion, a PE ratio of 18.39, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Quest Diagnostics 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.