Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Sold by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lowered its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,083 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,374 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.17% of Quest Diagnostics worth $35,654,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% during the second quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DGX. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $197.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total transaction of $10,589,976.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 120,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,158,665.60. This trade represents a 31.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total transaction of $1,488,683.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,410,745.50. This represents a 51.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 64,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,318,360 in the last three months. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 2.3%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $184.66 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $150.14 and a twelve month high of $197.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $20.54 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $181.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.02.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The company had revenue of $2.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 37.56%.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.