Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Bought by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 248.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,932 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,653 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $74,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DGX. Morgan Stanley raised Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.15.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $152.84 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $165.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $156.76 and a 200-day moving average of $152.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $17.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.90.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Quest Diagnostics 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.