Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Sells 14,096 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 46.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,277 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 14,096 shares during the period. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC's holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,754,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,637,525 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,690,021 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $404,764,000 after buying an additional 73,368 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $367,180,000 after buying an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,268,990 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $342,300,000 after buying an additional 26,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $191,823,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE DGX traded down $3.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $168.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,335,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,508. The firm has a market cap of $18.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.49. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $137.71 and a fifty-two week high of $182.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $175.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.53.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.06. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 15.11%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Mizuho increased 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $185.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total value of $153,579.28. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,471,127.84. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

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.