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

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

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX stock traded down $1.09 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $160.85. 133,780 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 913,530. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32. The company has a market capitalization of $17.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 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 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This trade represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 Quest Diagnostics 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter worth $1,363,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,966,000 after acquiring an additional 20,800 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,412,000 after acquiring an additional 6,619 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 292.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $37,993,000 after purchasing an additional 238,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

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.