Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Acquires 6,700 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated $DGX

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 372.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,500 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $1,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Key Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1,728.6% in the first quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 128 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE DGX opened at $211.12 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $201.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.99. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $165.78 and a 12 month high of $219.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.37 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 38.01%.

Quest Diagnostics Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.