Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Acquires 1,125 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,862 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,125 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,479,890. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $169.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $125.42 and a one year high of $178.87. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.20.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

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

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.