Woodline Partners LP Acquires 31,535 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 504,596 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,535 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 0.45% of Quest Diagnostics worth $76,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victrix Investment Advisors bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $241,000. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,423 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $366,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. WBI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $4,176,000. Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $3,025,000. Finally, State of Wyoming raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 273.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 2,509 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $434,350.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,575 shares in the company, valued at $1,797,750. This represents a 19.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 528 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $91,138.08. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 39,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,737,140.91. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,124 shares of company stock worth $9,341,875. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $178.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $19.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.15, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $135.47 and a 1 year high of $179.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $170.27 and a 200 day moving average of $163.82.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $185.73.

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.

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