Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Stock Holdings Lessened by Acropolis Investment Management LLC

Acropolis Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,104 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $637,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of DGX. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 59.8% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 29,135 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,523,000 after acquiring an additional 10,903 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,915 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 114,003 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,699,000 after purchasing an additional 6,839 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 5,343 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $829,000 after buying an additional 2,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5.8% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $258,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $162.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $155.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.15. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $165.32. The firm has a market cap of $18.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

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.