Paloma Partners Management Co Makes New $391,000 Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,938 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $391,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 103.3% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 148,251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $20,441,000 after purchasing an additional 75,315 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 50.9% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 41,796 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,562,000 after acquiring an additional 14,090 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 135,148 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $18,634,000 after acquiring an additional 7,415 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 201.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 31,912 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after acquiring an additional 21,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,562,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.15.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $60,093.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares in the company, valued at $718,118.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE DGX traded down $3.49 on Monday, hitting $142.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,532,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,775. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $141.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $150.59. The stock has a market cap of $15.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.38%.

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.