Short Interest in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Declines By 6.4%

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, a decline of 6.4% from the November 30th total of 2,040,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 828,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $151.98. 28,028 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 904,253. The business has a 50-day moving average of $157.49 and a 200-day moving average of $151.37. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $165.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s 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 owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 18.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 438,977 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $68,144,000 after buying an additional 68,844 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 45.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 54,897 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,180,000 after purchasing an additional 17,240 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,940,000 after buying an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% in the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 34,708 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,388,000 after buying an additional 4,024 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on DGX. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.15.

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.