Ridgewood Investments LLC Has $130,000 Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Ridgewood Investments LLC reduced its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 27.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 860 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 321 shares during the quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 9,200 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,388,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,902 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 438,977 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $68,144,000 after buying an additional 68,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 45.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,180,000 after buying an additional 17,240 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $151.73 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $156.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.07. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upped their price target 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, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.15.

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.