Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Makes New $242,000 Investment in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,601 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DGX. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,690,021 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,764,000 after purchasing an additional 73,368 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position 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 worth $367,180,000 after buying an additional 916,898 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 26,214 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $191,823,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,137,114 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $171,545,000 after acquiring an additional 23,425 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $164.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.41, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $125.42 and a twelve month high of $178.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $168.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.13.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. On average, analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 55,903 shares of company stock valued at $9,460,221. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.