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

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%.

Quest Diagnostics has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Quest Diagnostics has a payout ratio of 30.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 %

Shares of DGX stock traded up $1.58 on Tuesday, hitting $161.75. The stock had a trading volume of 994,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 916,338. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $153.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.91. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $162.56.

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

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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 three months, insiders have sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.58.

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.