Corebridge Financial Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Corebridge Financial Inc. lowered its stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,425 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,210 shares during the quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 340.4% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 251 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. FPC Investment Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Global Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value 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. This represents a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 14,157 shares of company stock valued at $2,423,755. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partnrs raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.8 %

DGX stock opened at $167.28 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $125.42 and a 12 month high of $178.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $166.64 and its 200 day moving average is $159.09. The company has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

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.