California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 10,086 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 503,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 10,086 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.45% of Quest Diagnostics worth $75,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DGX. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,479,890. This trade represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,157 shares of company stock worth $2,423,755. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $169.39 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $125.42 and a 12-month high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

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.