Park Avenue Securities LLC Sells 538 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Park Avenue Securities LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 14.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,071 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 538 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 79.3% in the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 242 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $146.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $136.88 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.78. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $145.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend 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.