Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Sells $246,400.00 in Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $137.55. 676,634 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,074,179. The company has a market capitalization of $15.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $119.59 and a 12 month high of $145.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.53.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.22%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on DGX. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TheStreet lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.17.

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.