Jericho Financial LLP Makes New $590,000 Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Jericho Financial LLP purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,910 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $590,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $309,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 33.8% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 72,930 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,002,000 after purchasing an additional 18,435 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 2,684 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 84.7% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,736 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $163.43 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $155.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $153.81. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.18 and a 52-week high of $167.08. The firm has a market cap of $18.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.69.

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.