Crestmont Private Wealth LLC Acquires 216 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Crestmont Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,016 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.92.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $148.67 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $120.10 and a 1 year high of $159.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average is $152.51 and its 200 day moving average is $143.34. 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 (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.49%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares in the company, valued at $718,118.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.