Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 4,176 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $630,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,363,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,412,000 after buying an additional 6,619 shares during the period. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $355,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,650,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $173.07 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.78. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $125.09 and a 12 month high of $178.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DGX. Leerink Partnrs raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up previously from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total value of $935,078.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,852,680.84. This trade represents a 7.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,514 shares of company stock valued at $1,634,445 over the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.