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

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) saw 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. Based on an average trading volume of 819,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company's stock are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $817,117,000 after purchasing an additional 70,578 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $133,023,000 after acquiring an additional 113,956 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $115,621,000 after acquiring an additional 15,047 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $116,018,000 after acquiring an additional 151,365 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group upped 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. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $177.69.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX traded up $0.96 on Tuesday, reaching $163.43. 889,794 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,033,613. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $123.18 and a 1-year high of $167.08. The firm has a market cap of $18.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $155.40 and a 200-day moving average of $153.81.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. Equities analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.01%.

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.