Apollon Wealth Management LLC Has $975,000 Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 10.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,279 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 732 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of DGX. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,481,000 after buying an additional 18,642 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after acquiring an additional 345,754 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at approximately $729,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,966,000 after purchasing an additional 20,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 292.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $648,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $160.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $153.84 and its 200-day moving average is $147.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 52 week low of $123.04 and a 52 week high of $162.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

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.