Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $32.55 Million Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,370 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,006 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.17% of Quest Diagnostics worth $32,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 142.5% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 485 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 285 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 subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $185.73.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,117 shares in the company, valued at $6,479,890. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $434,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,575 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,797,750. The trade was a 19.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,263 shares of company stock valued at $7,979,355 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX stock traded up $1.56 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $175.90. The company had a trading volume of 496,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 987,671. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $135.47 and a one year high of $179.99. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $171.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.49.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.06. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.63 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.