MQS Management LLC Invests $207,000 in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,332 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Arjuna Capital grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,064 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $283,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $160.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $162.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $153.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $147.26. 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 (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors 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 1.87%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. 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. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.58.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 14.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company 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.