Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Stock Holdings Trimmed by MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lessened its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 142.0% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,309 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 29,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,970,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 31.0% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,581 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 2,265 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,530,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 254.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 21,696 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,970,000 after purchasing an additional 15,582 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on DGX. Leerink Partners raised Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.15.

Insider Activity

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $151.31 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average of $156.23 and a 200-day moving average of $152.83. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32. The firm has a market cap of $16.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

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.