Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.80

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of 0.80 per share by the medical research company on Monday, April 21st. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75.

Quest Diagnostics has increased its dividend by an average of 6.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Quest Diagnostics has a payout ratio of 28.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Quest Diagnostics to earn $9.71 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 Trading Down 1.2 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $155.32 on Thursday. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $165.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $155.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.42. The firm has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. On average, research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on DGX. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.15.

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.