Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,223 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,100.0% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $128.44 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $119.59 and a 12-month high of $148.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.90.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 9.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 37.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. Leerink Partnrs reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.18.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,843,610.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% 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.