Causeway Capital Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Causeway Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 304,481 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 37,579 shares during the quarter. Quest Diagnostics accounts for about 1.0% of Causeway Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Causeway Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $45,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 3,983 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,407,000 after purchasing an additional 78,980 shares during the period. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 50,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,719,000 after buying an additional 1,520 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 34,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,388,000 after acquiring an additional 4,024 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 535 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.71, for a total value of $90,794.85. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,109,826.76. The trade was a 0.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.33.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX stock opened at $163.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $18.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $168.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.96. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $125.42 and a 1 year high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly 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 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

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.