Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Acquired by Cwm LLC

Cwm LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1,100.0% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headinvest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $135.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 0.97. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $119.59 and a 1 year high of $147.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.11.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 37.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,904.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,067,904.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,557 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.57, for a total transaction of $703,349.49. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 69,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,809,145.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202 in the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on DGX. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.17.

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.