Cerity Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,319 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,724 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $7,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,637,525 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $367,180,000 after acquiring an additional 916,898 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $164,896,000 after acquiring an additional 497,995 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 23,296.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 444,996 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $75,293,000 after acquiring an additional 443,094 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 dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total transaction of $153,579.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,127.84. This trade represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE DGX traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $168.01. The stock had a trading volume of 377,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 997,777. The company's 50 day moving average price is $175.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.44. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $137.71 and a twelve month high of $182.38. The firm has a market cap of $18.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.49.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 15.11%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.63 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $185.73.

Quest Diagnostics 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.