Signaturefd LLC Has $189,000 Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 43.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,374 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 19,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust lifted its stake 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 worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 6,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE DGX opened at $134.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $119.59 and a 52 week high of $146.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $129.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 8th were issued 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 was Friday, April 5th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 38.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at $4,843,610.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202 over the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.