Hancock Whitney Corp Purchases 258 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,923 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DGX. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% during the 1st 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. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at about $1,363,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 292.5% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 3,527 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,993,000 after purchasing an additional 238,007 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $162.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $18.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $154.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.63. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DGX. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

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.