Short Interest in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Increases By 38.4%

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,848,033 shares, an increase of 38.4% from the December 15th total of 4,225,484 shares. Currently, 5.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 873,850 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.7 days. Based on an average trading volume of 873,850 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.7 days. Currently, 5.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $197.27.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX traded down $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $189.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,132,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,695. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.21, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $181.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $179.82. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $150.14 and a 12-month high of $197.55.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.47% and a net margin of 8.91%.The business had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 13th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 13th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 37.56%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, Director Gary M. Pfeiffer sold 1,482 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.40, for a total transaction of $270,316.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,368,214.40. This represents a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 55,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.22, for a total value of $10,589,976.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 120,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,158,665.60. This represents a 31.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 65,771 shares of company stock valued at $12,588,676 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $238,122,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 66,757.0% in the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 849,752 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $161,946,000 after buying an additional 848,481 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 256.5% in the second quarter. M&G PLC now owns 1,072,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $193,090,000 after buying an additional 771,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2,531.6% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 450,898 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $85,932,000 after buying an additional 433,764 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.