Twin Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) by 57.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,827 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 6,559 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $666,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 19,692 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,715,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $753,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.9% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,417 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Montecito Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 1,909 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "b-" rating to a "c" rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Leerink Partnrs reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.18.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Quest Diagnostics
Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 2.0 %
DGX stock traded up $2.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $128.44. 1,557,641 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 826,385. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.31. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $119.59 and a 1-year high of $148.62. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $128.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.84. The company has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.91.
Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.98 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.
Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.92%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total value of $316,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,067,904.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.
About Quest Diagnostics
(
Free Report)
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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