Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Purchased by Arjuna Capital

Arjuna Capital increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1,295.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,914 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,128 shares during the quarter. Arjuna Capital’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter valued at $153,000. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 24,029 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,198,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,738 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 571 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 150,816 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $21,337,000 after buying an additional 17,568 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,481,000 after buying an additional 18,642 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 in the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $161.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 35,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 912,336. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $153.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.91. The firm has a market cap of $18.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 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.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during 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%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

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.