Insider Selling: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Sells $103,277.96 in Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total value of $103,277.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,813,096.55. The trade was a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $172.44 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $157.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.00. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $123.66 and a 1 year high of $172.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. 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 payout ratio is 39.01%.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.23.

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.