Burney Co. Trims Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Burney Co. decreased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,707 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 298 shares during the quarter. Burney Co.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Park Place Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 73.4% during the second quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 136.2% during the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 411 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $136.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $148.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. TheStreet downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.09.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $134.89 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $119.59 and a fifty-two week high of $158.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.03. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.80% and a net margin of 8.21%. The business had revenue of $2.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 17th will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 16th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.64%.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing, information, and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine testing, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services.