Acropolis Investment Management LLC Decreases Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Acropolis Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,650,000 after buying an additional 21,958 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 44,880 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,850,000 after buying an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 58.5% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 47,311 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,137,000 after buying an additional 17,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 101,788 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $15,356,000 after buying an additional 11,821 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total value of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at $21,499,370.58. This trade represents a 23.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total transaction of $153,579.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,471,127.84. This trade represents a 9.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,620 shares of company stock valued at $7,190,045 over the last ninety days. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 7th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.73.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $180.04 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $135.47 and a 52-week high of $181.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $172.77 and a 200 day moving average of $165.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.06. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 40.46%.

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.