Avity Investment Management Inc. Buys New Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Avity Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,625 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $245,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on DGX. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $152.84 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $156.76 and its 200 day moving average is $152.49. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $165.32. The company has a market capitalization of $17.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.