Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Bought by Waterloo Capital L.P.

Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,528 shares during the quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $2,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $367,180,000 after acquiring an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $164,896,000 after acquiring an additional 497,995 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth $67,447,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 113,956 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on DGX shares. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.57.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,499,370.58. This represents a 23.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $164.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $125.42 and a one year high of $178.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 41.61%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.