Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Acquires New Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 8,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,363,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,842,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.3% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 36,441 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,079,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 4.5% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 42,641 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IVY Lane Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. IVY Lane Capital Management LLC now owns 57,000 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,849,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’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 value of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Nine research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $164.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $164.25. The company has a market capitalization of $18.33 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $154.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $147.98.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.