Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Stake Cut by Foundry Partners LLC

Foundry Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,473 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 5,845 shares during the quarter. Foundry Partners LLC owned about 0.09% of Quest Diagnostics worth $17,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $828,265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,637,525 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $367,180,000 after acquiring an additional 916,898 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $164,896,000 after acquiring an additional 497,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 23,296.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 444,996 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $75,293,000 after acquiring an additional 443,094 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target 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. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an "outperform" 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $186.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,471,127.84. The trade was a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX traded down $1.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $166.79. The stock had a trading volume of 1,557,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,003,691. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.49. The company's 50-day moving average price is $174.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.08. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $137.71 and a twelve month high of $182.38.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.46%.

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.