WD Rutherford LLC Boosts Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

WD Rutherford LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,900 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 255 shares during the quarter. WD Rutherford LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.3% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 72,385 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,821,000 after purchasing an additional 4,280 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 24,129 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after buying an additional 11,145 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at about $17,474,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 13.9% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 11,094 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,358 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $136.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,284,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,392. The company has a market capitalization of $15.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $119.59 and a 12-month high of $145.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $139.08 and its 200-day moving average is $133.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.67.

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.