Short Interest in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Increases By 6.3%

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) saw a significant increase in short interest in 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 shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 819,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:DGX traded down $0.35 on Friday, reaching $151.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 760,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 600,221. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $165.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $156.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.76. The firm has a market cap of $16.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.98%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Seven investment 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.15.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,315 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.1% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,288 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $976,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.0% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,948 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $613,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.