HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Makes New $585,000 Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,527 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $585,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,554,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $433,153,000 after acquiring an additional 388,162 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,476,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $479,357,000 after acquiring an additional 62,114 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,632,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $362,945,000 after acquiring an additional 18,533 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,001,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,884,000 after acquiring an additional 538,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,798,803 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $219,202,000 after acquiring an additional 92,542 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.2 %

DGX stock opened at $137.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $137.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $133.66. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $119.59 and a one year high of $145.62. The stock has a market cap of $15.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.90.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 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 firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Barclays raised 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, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.67.

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.