BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 2,670 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lessened its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,535 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,670 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% in the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.1 %

DGX stock opened at $160.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.54, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $165.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $149.61.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. Mizuho increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.58.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

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