Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC Has $869,000 Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on DGX. Citigroup raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $162.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $154.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

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.