JGP Wealth Management LLC Acquires 2,892 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,148 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,892 shares during the period. Quest Diagnostics makes up about 2.3% of JGP Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $15,325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,014,030 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,917,961,000 after acquiring an additional 636,301 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,554,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $433,153,000 after acquiring an additional 388,162 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,414,514 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,093,000 after acquiring an additional 180,889 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,613,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $318,517,000 after purchasing an additional 333,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,422,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $339,688,000 after purchasing an additional 72,447 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DGX. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $144.18.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of DGX traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $128.14. 838,237 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,104,125. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.13. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $119.59 and a 52 week high of $148.62. The company has a market cap of $14.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.90.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.75 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 8th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 37.92%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.