Summit Trail Advisors LLC Sells 246 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,827 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 246 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $976,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spire Wealth Management increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $172,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DGX. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $164.20 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $155.61 and its 200-day moving average is $154.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.30 and a 52 week high of $168.17. The company has a market capitalization of $18.33 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.01%.

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.