Amalgamated Bank Buys 182 Shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,624 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $3,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $323,000. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 24,400 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 742 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 117.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,848 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.72, for a total value of $153,579.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,471,127.84. The trade was a 9.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on DGX. Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $185.73.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of DGX opened at $178.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $176.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.60. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $136.99 and a 12 month high of $182.38.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.06. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.81% and a return on equity of 15.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.46%.

Quest Diagnostics Company 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.