ICW Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,062 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 170 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DGX. Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $356,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $5,507,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 44,449 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,706,000 after buying an additional 2,697 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 10,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,596,000 after purchasing an additional 3,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $379,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Leerink Partnrs raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners raised Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $166.96 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $165.18 and a 200-day moving average of $158.64. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $125.42 and a 12-month high of $178.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total value of $90,794.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,109,826.76. This represents a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,157 shares of company stock worth $2,423,755 in the last ninety days. 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.