Ledyard National Bank Invests $258,000 in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Ledyard National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,874 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 19,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,715,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,417 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $538,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 1,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 6,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total transaction of $316,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,067,904.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:DGX traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $139.05. 307,553 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,069,580. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.42. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $119.59 and a fifty-two week high of $145.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 38.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $146.17.

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.