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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX traded down $0.64 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $161.30. 193,101 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 913,701. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $165.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $155.95 and its 200 day moving average is $149.54.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, 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. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 grew its stake in 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 valued at $404,838,000 after purchasing an additional 39,217 shares during the last quarter. Davis Selected Advisers grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% in the second quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,257,000 after purchasing an additional 9,665 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,758,000 after purchasing an additional 129,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $115,621,000 after purchasing an additional 15,047 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.