Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $172.45, but opened at $168.73. Quest Diagnostics shares last traded at $165.14, with a volume of 121,622 shares.

Specifically, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $789,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,117 shares in the company, valued at $6,479,890. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $164.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $158.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $828,265,000 after buying an additional 1,637,525 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,117,000 after purchasing an additional 70,578 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,690,021 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $404,764,000 after purchasing an additional 73,368 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $367,180,000 after purchasing an additional 916,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,268,990 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $342,300,000 after purchasing an additional 26,214 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.