Townsquare Capital LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,659 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $976,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on DGX. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

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

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE DGX opened at $157.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $17.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.76. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

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.