Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Karthik Kuppusamy Sells 1,990 Shares

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX traded up $1.35 on Thursday, reaching $156.23. The stock had a trading volume of 698,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 962,641. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $145.30 and a 200-day moving average of $137.53. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $119.59 and a fifty-two week high of $156.71. The company has a market capitalization of $17.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,125 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,207,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 38.8% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 8,297 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 2,320 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $74,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Wellington Wealth Strategies LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $294,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on DGX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $144.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.33.

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.