Forum Financial Management LP Buys 100 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Forum Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,940 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 124,484 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,326,000 after buying an additional 12,083 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 114.9% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 10,169 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 5,436 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 20.7% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,538,000 after purchasing an additional 2,805 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the third quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,390 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,010,000 after buying an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 24.7% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 10,466 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,625,000 after buying an additional 2,073 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $154.16 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $153.47 and its 200 day moving average is $146.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $160.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.