MCF Advisors LLC Buys 187 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

MCF Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 179.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 291 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $40,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,100.0% during the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX opened at $130.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $14.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $148.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $128.32 and its 200-day moving average is $130.95.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 9.23%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $103,560.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,800 shares in the company, valued at $8,930,712. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $103,560.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,800 shares in the company, valued at $8,930,712. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TheStreet cut Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Barclays started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, SVB Leerink began coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $144.18.

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.