Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by Sit Investment Associates Inc.

Key Points

• Sit Investment Associates Inc. has reduced its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 15.7%, selling 11,804 shares in the first quarter, bringing their total ownership to approximately 63,350 shares valued at $10.72 million.
• Quest Diagnostics reported a 15.2% increase in revenue year-over-year, with quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.62, exceeding analyst expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, yielding about 1.8%, which will be paid on October 20th.

Sit Investment Associates Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 15.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,350 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 11,804 shares during the period. Sit Investment Associates Inc. owned 0.06% of Quest Diagnostics worth $10,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DGX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% during 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 last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter worth about $388,724,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,196,429 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $180,493,000 after purchasing an additional 188,402 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,002,379 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $151,219,000 after purchasing an additional 128,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 765,938 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $127,131,000 after purchasing an additional 17,258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.7%

DGX stock traded up $1.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $179.67. 810,247 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,287,668. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $174.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $171.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.46. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $146.17 and a 52-week high of $182.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is currently 38.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $968,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,363,325. The trade was a 22.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $375,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,450 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,436,500. This represents a 20.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 16,014 shares of company stock valued at $2,728,556. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI set a $185.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on 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, William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $186.00.

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.