Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 3,304 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 36.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,708 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,304 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $323,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $512,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 77,316 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $11,672,000 after purchasing an additional 5,974 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,305 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised 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 worth $164,896,000 after purchasing an additional 497,995 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total value 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total transaction of $1,384,230.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,784,484. This represents a 43.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,353 shares of company stock worth $1,913,510 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock traded up $3.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $170.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,421,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,363,318. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $174.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.27. 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 Incorporated has a one year low of $144.87 and a one year high of $182.38. The stock has a market cap of $19.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.46.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. The business 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is currently 38.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Mizuho raised their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $186.00.

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.