First Financial Bank Trust Division Trims Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

First Financial Bank Trust Division lessened its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 46.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,515 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 7,490 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,133,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 79.3% during the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 242 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,880,900. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Mizuho raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Leerink Partnrs restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.67.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $137.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 198,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,495. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $119.59 and a 1-year high of $145.62.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.38%.

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.