Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,925 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $2,695,000.
Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $323,000. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 24,400 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 117.4% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,848 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 7th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $185.73.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Quest Diagnostics
Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.3%
NYSE:DGX traded up $2.25 on Friday, hitting $178.85. The stock had a trading volume of 436,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 991,754. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $176.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.76. The stock has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $136.99 and a 1-year high of $182.38.
Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 8.81%. Equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.46%.
Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics
In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total transaction of $153,579.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,127.84. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.
About Quest Diagnostics
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Articles

Before you consider Quest Diagnostics, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Quest Diagnostics wasn't on the list.
While Quest Diagnostics currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's guide to investing in 5G and which 5G stocks show the most promise.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.