Check Capital Management Inc. CA Has $223,000 Stake in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Check Capital Management Inc. CA reduced its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,435 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 488 shares during the quarter. Check Capital Management Inc. CA’s holdings in Quest Diagnostics were worth $223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 2.3 %

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 firm has a market cap of $17.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $153.79 and its 200-day moving average is $147.19. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $162.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This represents a 14.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

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.