Public Sector Pension Investment Board Purchases 600 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,915 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% in 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 during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE DGX opened at $157.35 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.04 and a 52 week high of $165.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $156.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $17.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on DGX. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

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.