New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 6,987 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 101,382 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 6,987 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $15,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,592 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,800,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 48.5% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,979 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after buying an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 23.7% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 7,537 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 38.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,601,000 after acquiring an additional 2,852 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $172.44 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $157.56 and a 200 day moving average of $156.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $19.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.66 and a 12 month high of $172.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS 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. Shareholders 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 represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total transaction of $90,794.85. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,109,826.76. The trade was a 0.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,792 shares of company stock worth $465,998. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.