Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by Golden State Equity Partners

Golden State Equity Partners lowered its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 13.4% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,503 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 233 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $828,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,525 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $367,180,000 after purchasing an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $164,896,000 after purchasing an additional 497,995 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,447,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Eight research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,499,370.58. The trade was a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $434,350.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,797,750. This trade represents a 19.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 42,620 shares of company stock valued at $7,190,045. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.9%

DGX stock opened at $177.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $135.47 and a 1-year high of $182.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $175.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.81. The firm has a market cap of $19.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.49.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.06. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 15.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.46%.

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.