70,585 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Purchased by General American Investors Co. Inc.

General American Investors Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 249.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 98,869 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 70,585 shares during the period. Quest Diagnostics makes up approximately 1.3% of General American Investors Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. General American Investors Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Quest Diagnostics worth $23,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Choreo LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.4% during the third quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,878 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $904,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,183 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,099,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 441 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 3,382 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DGX. Robert W. Baird set a $262.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Argus set a $260.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, October 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.70.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of DGX traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $255.36. 945,171 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,038,796. The company has a market capitalization of $28.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $171.18 and a 52 week high of $259.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $239.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.68.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.21% and a net margin of 9.53%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 6th were paid a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.26%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 22,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.02, for a total value of $5,482,482.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 71,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,844,790.98. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total transaction of $5,513,005.47. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 37,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,130,482.27. The trade was a 37.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock worth $13,715,017 in the last quarter. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a provider of diagnostic information services, conducting laboratory tests that help physicians and other health care professionals diagnose, monitor and manage medical conditions. Its services include routine blood and other clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, and specialized molecular and genetic testing.

The company serves patients, physicians, hospitals, health plans, employers and government organizations. In addition to testing performed through its laboratories and patient service centers, Quest offers services such as workplace drug testing and diagnostic support for clinical research.

Quest Diagnostics traces its roots to a clinical laboratory established in 1967 and became an independent company in 1996 after being spun off from Corning.