Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.75

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 paid 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 1.85%.

Quest Diagnostics has increased its dividend by an average of 8.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Quest Diagnostics has a dividend payout ratio of 30.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Quest Diagnostics to earn $9.69 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 31.0%.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:DGX traded up $1.58 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $161.75. 994,764 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 916,338. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $146.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $162.56.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.22 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics 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 owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728. 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.