State of Alaska Department of Revenue Grows Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 50.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,796 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,090 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $5,562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 19,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 1,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 6,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 33,417 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,608,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on DGX. Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.67.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $140.90 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $139.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.79. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $145.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued 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 2.13%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the business’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 value 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 approximately $1,880,900. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.