Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX Stock Sold by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 44.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,688 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 24,571 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $7,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,965,923,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $410,151,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $151,986,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $133,388,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at $124,180,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (a)” rating to a “buy (a+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Argus set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 22,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.02, for a total value of $5,482,482.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 71,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,844,790.98. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 22,677 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.11, for a total transaction of $5,513,005.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 37,557 shares in the company, valued at $9,130,482.27. This represents a 37.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 55,985 shares of company stock valued at $13,715,017 in the last three months. 0.88% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.6%

DGX opened at $258.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $240.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $214.44. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $171.18 and a one year high of $259.84. The stock has a market cap of $28.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.55.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 16.21% and a net margin of 9.53%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 11.29 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 12th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 12th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.26%.

About Quest Diagnostics

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a provider of diagnostic information services, conducting laboratory tests that help physicians and other health care professionals diagnose, monitor and manage medical conditions. Its services include routine blood and other clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, and specialized molecular and genetic testing. The company serves patients, physicians, hospitals, health plans, employers and government organizations. In addition to testing performed through its laboratories and patient service centers, Quest offers services such as workplace drug testing and diagnostic support for clinical research.