Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Buys Shares of 1,198 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 1,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $323,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,650,000 after purchasing an additional 21,958 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,119 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,994,000 after buying an additional 104,495 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 39,191 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.46, for a total transaction of $6,602,115.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 127,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,499,370.58. The trade was a 23.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $434,350.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 10,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,797,750. This trade represents a 19.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,620 shares of company stock valued at $7,190,045. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $179.64 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $173.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.01. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $135.47 and a one year high of $182.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.49.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.06. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 8.81%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $195.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.73.

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.