Isthmus Partners LLC Acquires 116 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 0.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 90,990 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Quest Diagnostics comprises approximately 1.7% of Isthmus Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Isthmus Partners LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $14,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on DGX. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.6 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $163.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.23 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $155.42 and its 200 day moving average is $149.00.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.