Oak Thistle LLC Sells 2,713 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Oak Thistle LLC decreased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 34.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,219 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 2,713 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% in the 4th 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 in the 4th quarter valued at about $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during 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 period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $164,896,000 after purchasing an additional 497,995 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 worth $75,293,000 after acquiring an additional 443,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $186.00.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total value of $153,579.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,471,127.84. This trade represents a 9.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:DGX traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $168.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 235,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,197,464. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.83. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $140.71 and a 1 year high of $182.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.01% and a return on equity of 15.24%. The firm's revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. Research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th were issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.32%.

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.