Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Purchased by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $151.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $155.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $123.04 and a 12-month high of $165.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on DGX shares. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.15.

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.