Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 3.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,175 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the 2nd 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 period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $161.38 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $18.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $154.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.04 and a 52 week high of $162.88.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

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.