Sigma Planning Corp Has $247,000 Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Sigma Planning Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 76.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 5,990 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,417 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 19,617 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 6,358 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 47,154 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,746,000 after purchasing an additional 3,057 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 109,527 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $13,347,000 after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,784 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $134.26 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.29. The firm has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 0.97. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $146.85.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, TheStreet cut Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $103,560.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,930,712. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.