Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Has $67.93 Million Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 492,669 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 121,550 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.45% of Quest Diagnostics worth $67,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings 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 during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 79.3% during the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 242 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Headinvest LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at $1,880,900. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.67.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $137.02 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1-year low of $119.59 and a 1-year high of $145.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $137.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.65.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.38%.

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.