Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) CEO J. E. Davis Sells 39,191 Shares

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,499,370.58. The trade was a 23.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $164.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $125.42 and a one year high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $828,265,000 after buying an additional 1,637,525 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $367,180,000 after purchasing an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $164,896,000 after purchasing an additional 497,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $67,447,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.