Prudential PLC Sells 5,516 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Prudential PLC lowered its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,409 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,516 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $10,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $355,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,650,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 26,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,987,000 after acquiring an additional 3,983 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,499,370.58. This trade represents a 23.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. Citigroup cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.57.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 3.8 %

Shares of DGX opened at $164.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $125.42 and a 1 year high of $178.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

Quest Diagnostics 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.