Daymark Wealth Partners LLC Buys 631 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,585 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 631 shares during the quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $70,080,000 after purchasing an additional 442,835 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,028,000 after buying an additional 206,640 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after acquiring an additional 151,365 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,376,000 after acquiring an additional 108,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,407,000 after purchasing an additional 78,980 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on DGX shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $152.61 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $123.04 and a 12-month high of $165.32. The firm has a market cap of $17.03 billion, a PE ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $156.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.