Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.75 on January 29th

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 12th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of 0.75 per share by the medical research company on Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th.

Quest Diagnostics has raised its dividend by an average of 6.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Quest Diagnostics has a payout ratio of 28.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Quest Diagnostics to earn $9.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.9%.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $151.73 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $156.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.16. 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 $16.94 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on DGX shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% 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.