Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 16.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 212,951 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,469 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Quest Diagnostics worth $29,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 19,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,417 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $538,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 1,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $263,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 6,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of DGX opened at $134.26 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $129.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 0.97. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $146.85. The company has a market cap of $14.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 38.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TheStreet downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.