Fulton Bank N.A. Purchases New Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Fulton Bank N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,593 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $439,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,637,525 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of 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. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $67,447,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Citigroup lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $185.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 23.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,117 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,479,890. This trade represents a 10.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 47,263 shares of company stock valued at $7,979,355 over the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $174.48. The stock had a trading volume of 434,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 985,682. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $171.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $135.47 and a 12 month high of $179.99.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.46%.

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.