Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 745 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 60.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 488 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 745 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $828,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,525 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 23,296.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 444,996 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $75,293,000 after purchasing an additional 443,094 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,698,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 18.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,196,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $180,493,000 after purchasing an additional 188,402 shares during the period. Finally, Coho Partners Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,839,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.6%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $177.09 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $19.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $171.19. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $146.17 and a 12 month high of $182.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.35 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 38.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,210 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $375,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,436,500. The trade was a 20.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $968,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,363,325. The trade was a 22.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 16,014 shares of company stock valued at $2,728,556 in the last ninety days. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $176.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.00.

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.