Sawyer & Company Inc Sells 2,168 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Sawyer & Company Inc cut its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 27.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,846 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,168 shares during the quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $976,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on DGX. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’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 owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $150.47 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $156.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $165.32.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Quest Diagnostics 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.