Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Shares Sold by B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,689 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 333 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% during the third 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 79.3% during the fourth 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at $1,880,900. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $146.67.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.9 %

DGX opened at $137.30 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $138.91 and a 200 day moving average of $133.82. 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 company has a market cap of $15.25 billion, a PE ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $119.59 and a 12 month high of $145.62.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.38%.

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.