1,321 Shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Acquired by Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,321 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $160.44 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $162.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $153.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.47.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted 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 return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group lifted 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. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Nine 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.