Hancock Whitney Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Hancock Whitney Corp cut its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 88.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,328 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 54,083 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 218.2% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,718 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after buying an additional 7,350 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 178,191 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $23,719,000 after buying an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at $628,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 19.7% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,022 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,966,000 after buying an additional 20,800 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.15.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX traded up $0.65 during trading on Friday, hitting $148.32. 263,694 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 993,896. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $119.59 and a 12-month high of $151.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $141.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.66. The company has a market cap of $16.51 billion, a PE ratio of 20.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total value 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 approximately $718,118.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.