New York State Common Retirement Fund Lowers Stock Position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 18.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,369 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 24,960 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.10% of Quest Diagnostics worth $16,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,312 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Arjuna Capital lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,392 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI began coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $154.16 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $153.47 and a 200 day moving average of $146.26. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $160.95. 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 stock has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.32%.

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.