Avestar Capital LLC Has $976,000 Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $162.28 on Wednesday. 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 cap of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $155.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $148.79. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released 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 net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.