Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 25,102 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,236 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 103.3% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 148,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $20,441,000 after purchasing an additional 75,315 shares during the last quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,483,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,613,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $318,517,000 after purchasing an additional 333,947 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 201.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 21,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 16,270 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TheStreet downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.9 %

DGX opened at $134.26 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $129.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.23. The company has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $119.59 and a 1 year high of $146.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 0.97.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202 in the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.