Citizens & Northern Corp Has $242,000 Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Citizens & Northern Corp grew its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,606 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Citizens & Northern Corp’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Global Trust Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter valued at $82,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $168.97 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12-month low of $123.30 and a 12-month high of $171.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $156.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $18.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. As a group, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.69.

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.