First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $955,000 Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 24.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,644 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,850 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 142.5% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 485 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at $21,499,370.58. This trade represents a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,479,890. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 47,263 shares of company stock worth $7,979,355. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $177.31. 151,863 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 985,242. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.49. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $135.47 and a twelve month high of $179.99.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. Research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is currently 40.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DGX. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays lifted 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 note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $185.73.

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.