Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $175.77.

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 that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the third quarter worth $1,363,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $14,412,000 after purchasing an additional 6,619 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares during the period. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at about $355,000. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 8,669.8% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,178 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $9,653,000 after purchasing an additional 61,469 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of DGX opened at $162.70 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $123.18 and a one year high of $167.08. The company has a market cap of $18.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.70.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. Research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.