Sterling Capital Management LLC Buys 2,346 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 55.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,579 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,346 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DGX. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,843 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 6,495 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $980,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,811 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,140,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 764 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $434,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,797,750. This represents a 19.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221 over the last quarter. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Eight equities research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.33.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $167.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $168.67 and its 200 day moving average is $160.10. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $125.42 and a 52 week high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 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.