Olstein Capital Management L.P. Sells 11,682 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. trimmed its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 17.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,318 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 11,682 shares during the period. Quest Diagnostics accounts for 1.5% of Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $8,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 3.8% in the first quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,312 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Arjuna Capital grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% during the first quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $216,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE DGX traded up $0.31 on Thursday, reaching $155.49. The company had a trading volume of 14,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 914,129. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $17.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $153.48 and its 200 day moving average is $146.33. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $160.95.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.