Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Newly Bought by Soltis Investment Advisors LLC

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,022 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 492.9% during the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 166 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 92.2% in the 3rd quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird set a $262.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $235.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.70.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $251.87 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.54. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $171.18 and a 52-week high of $256.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $238.53 and a 200 day moving average of $212.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.70.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.87 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.21% and a net margin of 9.53%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.60 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th were issued 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 dividend yield of 1.4%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 34.26%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.72, for a total transaction of $2,427,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 122,423 shares in the company, valued at $29,714,510.56. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,130,482.27. This represents a 37.65% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,880 shares of company stock valued at $8,232,534. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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.