Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 2,231 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Financial Counselors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 101,238 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,231 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $15,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $67,447,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after buying an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $133,023,000 after buying an additional 113,956 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $19,376,000 after acquiring an additional 108,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $81,994,000 after acquiring an additional 104,495 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total transaction of $103,277.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,813,096.55. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,157 shares of company stock worth $2,423,755 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE DGX opened at $165.49 on Wednesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $125.42 and a 12 month high of $178.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $165.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.82. The stock has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.61%.

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.