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

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 12th,RTT News reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th.

Quest Diagnostics has increased its dividend by an average of 6.9% 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 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.15.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred 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 34.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This trade 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.

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.