Willis Investment Counsel Raises Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Willis Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 151,800 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 14,900 shares during the period. Quest Diagnostics makes up approximately 1.6% of Willis Investment Counsel’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $28,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 462 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 15.7% during the third quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 25,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,913,000 after buying an additional 3,499 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 9.7% during the third quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,965 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,327,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,085 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 82.6% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 8,823 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 3,991 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $192.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.11. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $157.20 and a 12-month high of $197.55.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 13th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 13th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.56%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total transaction of $10,589,976.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 120,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,158,665.60. This represents a 31.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.76, for a total value of $239,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 17,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,267,015.12. This trade represents a 6.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 64,289 shares of company stock worth $12,318,360 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DGX. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.27.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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.