Avestar Capital LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Avestar Capital LLC lessened its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 29.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,431 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,857 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $91,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on DGX. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.69.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $169.09 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $18.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.30 and a 52 week high of $169.27.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. Equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.01%.

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.