Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Declares 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75.

Quest Diagnostics has raised its dividend by an average of 6.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Quest Diagnostics has a dividend payout ratio of 28.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Up 5.5 %

NYSE DGX opened at $163.97 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $123.04 and a 1-year high of $167.08. The company has a market capitalization of $18.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $155.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.43. 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 (NYSE:DGX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. Equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. 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, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.15.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.