Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $491,000 Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,899 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $491,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position 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 valued at $828,265,000 after buying an additional 1,637,525 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 valued at $404,764,000 after purchasing an additional 73,368 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 purchasing an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,268,990 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $342,300,000 after purchasing an additional 26,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $191,823,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,372 shares in the company, valued at $1,471,127.84. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE DGX traded down $1.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $166.79. 1,557,274 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,003,305. The company's fifty day moving average is $174.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.95. 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 quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $18.62 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.49.

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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. On average, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on DGX shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight equities 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $186.07.

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.