Merit Financial Group LLC Has $603,000 Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 45.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,650,000 after acquiring an additional 21,958 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,345,000. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter worth $545,000. Finally, Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 5,150 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $777,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total transaction of $153,579.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,127.84. This represents a 9.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,479,890. This trade represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,263 shares of company stock valued at $7,979,355. 8.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.73.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $175.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $135.47 and a 12 month high of $179.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $171.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.25.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.06. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 40.46%.

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.