Michael E. Prevoznik Sells 4,643 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,479,890. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 2.6 %

Quest Diagnostics stock traded down $4.51 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $167.94. 1,596,591 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 872,740. The business has a fifty day moving average of $164.63 and a 200 day moving average of $158.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $18.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $125.42 and a 12-month high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners raised Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.23.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $828,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637,525 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,117,000 after purchasing an additional 70,578 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,690,021 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $404,764,000 after purchasing an additional 73,368 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $367,180,000 after purchasing an additional 916,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,268,990 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $342,300,000 after acquiring an additional 26,214 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.