Lifeworks Advisors LLC Has $560,000 Stock Holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,605 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $560,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DGX shares. Evercore ISI started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.58.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $156.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $153.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.19. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $162.59. The firm has a market cap of $17.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.