Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP cut its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 492,920 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 56,708 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.44% of Quest Diagnostics worth $74,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on DGX shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $180.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $183.73.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock traded down $2.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $173.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,033,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 965,328. 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 twelve month low of $134.50 and a twelve month high of $178.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total transaction of $935,078.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,068 shares in the company, valued at $11,852,680.84. This represents a 7.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,903 shares of company stock valued at $9,460,221. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company's stock.

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.