Kennebec Savings Bank Has $604,000 Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Kennebec Savings Bank raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,921 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $976,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 5.5 %

Shares of DGX opened at $163.97 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $167.08.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DGX. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.15.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.