Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) EVP Catherine T. Doherty Sells 535 Shares

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total value of $90,794.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,109,826.76. The trade was a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $172.44 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $157.21 and a 200-day moving average of $155.68. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $123.66 and a 12-month high of $172.91. The firm has a market cap of $19.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,592 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,800,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 140,982 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $21,887,000 after purchasing an additional 14,899 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 48.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,979 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after purchasing an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,709 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,904,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed 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. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.69.

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.