Ieq Capital LLC Cuts Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Ieq Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,899 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,099 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $82,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on DGX. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $189.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $173.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $157.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $123.66 and a 1 year high of $175.89. The company has a market cap of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.63, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total transaction of $103,277.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,813,096.55. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,792 shares of company stock valued at $465,998 in the last three months. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.