Trust Co. of Vermont Increases Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 1,525.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,105 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,363,000. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,412,000 after buying an additional 6,619 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,940,000 after acquiring an additional 8,282 shares during the period. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8,669.8% in the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,178 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,653,000 after acquiring an additional 61,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 26,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,987,000 after acquiring an additional 3,983 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.2 %

DGX stock opened at $151.31 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $16.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $156.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.76. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.04 and a 52 week high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on DGX. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics 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.