NBC Securities Inc. Invests $35,000 in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 210 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,650,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $54,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,345,000. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $545,000. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 56.3% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 5,150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $195.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.73.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $180.04 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $135.47 and a 1 year high of $181.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $172.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $165.65.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,117 shares in the company, valued at $6,479,890. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 127,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,499,370.58. This trade represents a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,263 shares of company stock valued at $7,979,355 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.16% 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.