Victrix Investment Advisors Acquires New Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Victrix Investment Advisors bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $241,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,407,000 after acquiring an additional 78,980 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 5,169 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $780,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,431,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.73.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $177.88 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $19.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.52. 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 $135.47 and a 12-month high of $179.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $170.04 and its 200-day moving average is $163.66.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total transaction of $153,579.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,127.84. The trade was a 9.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total value of $935,078.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,852,680.84. This trade represents a 7.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,124 shares of company stock worth $9,341,875. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

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.