HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Purchases 456 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,855 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,117,000 after buying an additional 70,578 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $404,838,000 after acquiring an additional 39,217 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $367,180,000 after purchasing an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $191,823,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $164,896,000 after purchasing an additional 497,995 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $169.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $167.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.30. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $125.42 and a 52-week high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total value of $935,078.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,068 shares in the company, valued at $11,852,680.84. This represents a 7.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.