Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.80 Per Share

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 2.06%. 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% 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% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $155.32 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.42. The firm has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a P/E 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 has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $165.32.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly 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 owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on DGX shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective (up from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.