Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Shares Acquired by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 0.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,949,535 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,987 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $382,085,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Key Financial Inc lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% during the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.5%

DGX opened at $206.59 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $201.19 and its 200-day moving average is $196.73. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $165.78 and a 52-week high of $219.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.58.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 38.01%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total transaction of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $217.17.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.