Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Short Interest Down 8.6% in August

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,550,000 shares, a decline of 8.6% from the August 15th total of 2,790,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 844,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $60,093.60. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $718,118.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DGX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.33.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock traded up $0.10 on Wednesday, reaching $155.48. 439,996 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 944,302. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $119.59 and a 1-year high of $159.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $150.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $140.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The company had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.