Sebold Capital Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,354 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Sebold Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,354 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth approximately $48,783,000. M&G Plc bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at about $46,432,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after acquiring an additional 345,754 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,993,000 after purchasing an additional 238,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,028,000 after purchasing an additional 206,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $144.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Citigroup raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.92.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $157.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $152.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.39. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $120.87 and a 12 month high of $159.36.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.38%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.