Insider Selling: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Sells $278,533.00 in Stock

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Karthik Kuppusamy also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, August 28th, Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE DGX opened at $155.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $160.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $153.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.62. The stock has a market cap of $17.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $164.58.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,747,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 50.9% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 41,796 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,562,000 after buying an additional 14,090 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.3% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 23,771 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter valued at $249,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 760.7% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 19,556 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,603,000 after acquiring an additional 17,284 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.