Level Four Advisory Services LLC Purchases 670 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 36,111 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $5,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the fourth 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 bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on DGX shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755 over the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $167.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $125.42 and a 1-year high of $178.87. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.01.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

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.