Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $69,000 Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 456 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 74 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $69,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $171.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $159.23 and its 200-day moving average is $156.58. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $123.66 and a 1-year high of $176.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $19.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. This is an increase 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 presently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,792 shares of company stock valued at $465,998 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.