Investors can speculate about the future of a stock by watching how its insiders buy and sell stocks. Quest Diagnostics, Inc. shares valued at $706,313 were sold by PREVOZNIK MICHAEL E on Feb 29 ’24. At $125.88 per share, PREVOZNIK MICHAEL E sold 5,611 shares. The insider’s holdings dropped to 38,478 shares worth approximately $5.0 million following the completion of this transaction.
Also, Doherty Catherine T. sold 1,187 shares, netting a total of over 149,420 in proceeds. Following the sale of shares at $125.88 each, the insider now holds 68,412 shares.
Before that, Doherty Catherine T. had sold 5,557 shares from its account. In a trade valued at $703,349, the EVP, Regional Businesses traded Quest Diagnostics, Inc. shares for $126.57 each. Upon closing the transaction, the insider’s holdings decreased to 5,557 shares, worth approximately $9.05 million.
As published in their initiating research note from Leerink Partners on February 26, 2024, Quest Diagnostics, Inc. [DGX] has been a Market perform and the price target has been revised to $135. Analysts at Jefferies upgraded the stock from ‘”a Hold”‘ to ‘”a Buy”‘ outlook in a report released in early February. As of January 03, 2024, Barclays has initiated its “an Equal weight” rating for DGX. Earlier on December 12, 2023, BofA Securities upgraded its rating. Their new recommendation was “a Buy” for DGX stock which previously was a “a Neutral”.
Analyzing DGX Stock Performance
During the last five days, there has been a drop of approximately -1.13%. Over the course of the year, Quest Diagnostics, Inc. shares have dropped approximately -5.70%. Shares of the company reached a 52-week high of $143.63 on 01/02/24 and a 52-week low of $123.04 on 02/01/24. A 50-day SMA is recorded $128.08, while a 200-day SMA reached $131.72. Nevertheless, trading volume fell to 0.75 million shares from 0.79 million shares the previous day.
Support And Resistance Levels for Quest Diagnostics, Inc. (DGX)
According to the 24-hour chart, there is a support level at 128.62, which, if violated, would cause prices to drop to 127.22. In the upper region, resistance lies at 131.98. The next price resistance is at 133.94. RSI (Relative Strength Index) is 49.76 on the 14-day chart, showing neutral technical sentiment. Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is at 0.20, which suggests the price will decrease in the coming days. Percent R is at 73.16%, indicating bearish price movement. Stochastics %K at holding indicates that the stock is to be held.
Is Quest Diagnostics, Inc. subject to short interest?
Stocks of Quest Diagnostics, Inc. saw a sharp steep in short interest on Mar 28, 2024 dropping by -0.2 million shares to 2.55 million. Data from Yahoo Finance shows that the short interest on Feb 29, 2024 was 2.75 million shares. A decline of -7.84% in short interest reflects a positive sentiment towards the stock. Despite the fact that short shares comprise just 2.81 of the overall float, the days-to-cover ratio (short ratio) decline to 2.81.
