HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 493 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,444 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 493 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $4,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $70,080,000 after purchasing an additional 442,835 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,783,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 238,007 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $41,028,000 after buying an additional 206,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at $22,049,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $158.46 on Wednesday. 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 capitalization of $17.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $123.04 and a 12-month high of $165.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $156.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.11.

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

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $167.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.