Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Short Interest Update

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) was the target of a large growth in short interest in 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. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 819,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $175.77.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock traded up $1.70 on Tuesday, hitting $164.17. 72,897 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 994,139. The company has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s fifty day moving average is $155.40 and its 200 day moving average is $153.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $123.18 and a 1-year high of $167.08.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 39.01%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $817,117,000 after purchasing an additional 70,578 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% in the third 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. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $115,621,000 after buying an additional 15,047 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 708,100 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $109,933,000 after purchasing an additional 12,565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.