Koshinski Asset Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,488 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,488 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 20.7% in the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 2,359 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.8% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 21,624 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $3,659,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,446 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 33,342 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,641,000 after buying an additional 1,906 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on DGX. Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $185.73.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of the company's 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,127.84. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX traded up $2.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $178.85. 436,517 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 991,754. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $176.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.60. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $136.99 and a 1 year high of $182.38. The company has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 8.81%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.46%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.