Partners Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Partners Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $534,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth $471,000. Choreo LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,215 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% in 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 buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 9,889 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,305,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 58,053 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $13,530,000 after buying an additional 2,299 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. 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. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, October 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gary Pfeiffer sold 1,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.00, for a total value of $292,329.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 29,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,241,886. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 33,880 shares of company stock valued at $8,232,534 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $251.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $171.18 and a 1-year high of $256.99. The stock has a market cap of $27.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $238.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.05.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $3.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 6th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 34.26%.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX) is a provider of diagnostic information services. The company performs laboratory testing that helps physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers diagnose, treat and monitor diseases and health conditions. Its services include routine blood and other specimen testing, pathology, molecular and genetic testing, and specialized diagnostic services.

Quest Diagnostics serves a broad range of customers, including hospitals, physician practices, health plans, employers, government agencies and individual consumers.