Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 1,970 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 33.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,868 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,970 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,363,000. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8,669.8% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,178 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,653,000 after purchasing an additional 61,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 26,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,987,000 after buying an additional 3,983 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents 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 link. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE DGX opened at $155.32 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $165.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $155.54 and a 200-day moving average of $153.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.