Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Short Interest Update

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,030,000 shares, an increase of 6.3% from the December 15th total of 1,910,000 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 819,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 142.0% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,309 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 226,598 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,017,000 after acquiring an additional 6,230 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at approximately $22,049,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 50,823 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,026,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 29,004 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,970,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.2 %

Quest Diagnostics stock traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $151.31. The stock had a trading volume of 760,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 600,221. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $156.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.76. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32. The stock has a market cap of $16.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective 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. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.15.

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.