Liberty Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Key Points

• Liberty Wealth Management LLC purchased 15,059 shares of Quest Diagnostics, valued at approximately $2.55 million, indicating investor confidence in the medical research company.
• Quest Diagnostics recently reported earnings of $2.62 per share, exceeding expectations, with revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, representing a growth of 15.2% year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 1.9%, with a payout ratio of 38.32%.

Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,059 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $2,548,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. TIAA Trust National Association acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter valued at $270,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter worth $1,632,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% in the first quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,601 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 701 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 112,232 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $18,990,000 after purchasing an additional 8,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tredje AP fonden grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 155.4% in the first quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 22,340 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,780,000 after purchasing an additional 13,593 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total value of $153,579.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,471,127.84. The trade was a 9.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total transaction of $1,384,230.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,784,484. This trade represents a 43.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,353 shares of company stock worth $1,913,510 over the last ninety days. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX traded up $1.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $174.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 897,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,188,848. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $174.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $145.43 and a 12 month high of $182.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.46.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.57 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The business's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $186.00.

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.