Farther Finance Advisors LLC Has $497,000 Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 29.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,938 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,249 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $497,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth $35,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 142.5% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 485 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:DGX opened at $180.04 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $135.47 and a 1-year high of $181.91. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $172.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $165.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at $21,499,370.58. This represents a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $434,350.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,797,750. The trade was a 19.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,620 shares of company stock worth $7,190,045 over the last ninety days. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.