Foster & Motley Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Foster & Motley Inc. lowered its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,352 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of DGX. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $817,117,000 after purchasing an additional 70,578 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,838,000 after acquiring an additional 39,217 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,621,000 after acquiring an additional 15,047 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after acquiring an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $109,933,000 after purchasing an additional 12,565 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $155.32 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.42.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DGX. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.