Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Trims Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,241 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 189 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 35.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 298,922 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $46,407,000 after acquiring an additional 78,980 shares during the period. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 50,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 34,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,388,000 after purchasing an additional 4,024 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 45.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $8,180,000 after buying an additional 17,240 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock valued at $9,460,221 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $173.75 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $168.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.16. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $134.50 and a twelve month high of $178.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.46%.

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.