Paloma Partners Management Co Acquires New Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,938 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $391,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 79.3% during the fourth quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 242 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 179.8% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 291 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $60,093.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $718,118.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock traded down $3.49 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $142.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,532,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,775. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $119.59 and a 1-year high of $150.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $141.12 and a 200 day moving average of $134.42. The company has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.15.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.