V Square Quantitative Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,070 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 176 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth $91,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.69.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $168.97 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.30 and a 52 week high of $171.30. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $155.07. The firm has a market cap of $18.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % 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 insiders.

Quest Diagnostics 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.