Versor Investments LP Has $664,000 Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Versor Investments LP cut its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 30.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,897 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $817,117,000 after acquiring an additional 70,578 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,838,000 after acquiring an additional 39,217 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 113,956 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 708,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $109,933,000 after purchasing an additional 12,565 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $172.86 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $159.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $156.73. The stock has a market cap of $19.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.48, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.66 and a fifty-two week high of $176.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10.

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 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, equities analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 824 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total transaction of $142,230.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,178 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,940,814.58. This trade represents a 1.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,144 shares of company stock valued at $699,367. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.