Commonwealth Financial Services LLC Cuts Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Commonwealth Financial Services LLC cut its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,219 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth $245,000. Atwater Malick LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Atwater Malick LLC now owns 54,749 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. WD Rutherford LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.0% in the first quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 20,471 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,725,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.3 %

Quest Diagnostics stock traded up $2.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $159.21. The stock had a trading volume of 66,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 920,621. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $17.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $121.60 and a one year high of $159.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $152.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.48.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.33.

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.