Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Short Interest Up 8.8% in November

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,590,000 shares, a growth of 8.8% from the October 31st total of 2,380,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 801,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $161.30. 193,101 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 913,701. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $155.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.54. The company has a market cap of $18.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $123.04 and a 12-month high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $817,117,000 after acquiring an additional 70,578 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,653 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $404,838,000 after acquiring an additional 39,217 shares in the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,257,000 after acquiring an additional 9,665 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,758,000 after acquiring an additional 129,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,621,000 after acquiring an additional 15,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.