Brooklyn Investment Group Boosts Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 696 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,431,000. Occidental Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 24,339 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,799 shares during the period. JGP Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 99,857 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $15,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,547 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.15.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % 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, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $151.31 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $165.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50 day moving average is $156.40 and its 200 day moving average is $152.68.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

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.