Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Cuts Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 8.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,296 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 92.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,920 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,093,000 after acquiring an additional 9,559 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 38,389 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,952,000 after buying an additional 619 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.2% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,562 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 43,787 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,798,000 after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $162.11 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.89. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $153.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.54. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $162.72.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.58.

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.