AlphaQuest LLC Buys 6,284 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 3,396.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,469 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,284 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.5% in the third quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,275 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. True North Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 1,554 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 517 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 2,623 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $471,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.3% during the second quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $549,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.27.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $186.90 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $157.20 and a 12 month high of $197.55. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.73. The company has a market cap of $20.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 37.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.76, for a total value of $239,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,267,015.12. The trade was a 6.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total transaction of $1,488,683.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,410,745.50. This represents a 51.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 64,289 shares of company stock valued at $12,318,360 over the last three months. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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.