Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Short Interest Update

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 7,946 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.35, for a total value of $1,488,683.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,410,745.50. This represents a 51.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.76, for a total transaction of $239,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,267,015.12. This represents a 6.84% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 65,771 shares of company stock worth $12,588,676 in the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 114.3% during the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.9% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 152 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 369.7% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 155 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 156 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MTM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE DGX opened at $189.27 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $150.14 and a fifty-two week high of $197.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $181.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $179.84. The stock has a market cap of $21.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.64.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its 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. The business had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 15.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $207.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.27.

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.