Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. lowered its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 158,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 20,255 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $23,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Net Worth Advisory Group boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 6,495 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $980,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 764 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,053 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $166.66 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $125.42 and a 1 year high of $178.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 528 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $91,138.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,737,140.91. This trade represents a 1.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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.