Oak Thistle LLC Makes New $361,000 Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 2,637 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $26,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Citigroup raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $144.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.33.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $60,093.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $718,118.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $154.29 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $148.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $119.59 and a one year high of $159.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.38%.

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.