Triangle Securities Wealth Management Has $422,000 Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Triangle Securities Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,799 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Triangle Securities Wealth Management’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,117,000 after buying an additional 70,578 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,838,000 after purchasing an additional 39,217 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,621,000 after purchasing an additional 15,047 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 708,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $109,933,000 after purchasing an additional 12,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.2 %

DGX opened at $151.31 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $156.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.76. The firm has a market cap of $16.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.15.

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.