California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 709,465 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 7,477 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.63% of Quest Diagnostics worth $97,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 100.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 218 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1,100.0% during the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 264 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 179.8% in the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 291 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. TheStreet downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $145.00 target price on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at $4,843,610.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,329 shares in the company, valued at $2,067,904.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $137.55 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $128.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 1 year low of $119.59 and a 1 year high of $148.62.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th were given a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 37.92%.

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.