Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.75 Per Share

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 1st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th will be given a dividend of 0.75 per share by the medical research company on Monday, April 22nd. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 5th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71.

Quest Diagnostics has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.1% 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 31.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Quest Diagnostics to earn $9.41 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 31.9%.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $132.40 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $127.87 and a 200-day moving average of $130.35. The company has a market cap of $14.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $119.59 and a one year high of $148.62.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.23% and a return on equity of 15.79%. The business had revenue of $2.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,843,610.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202 over the last three months. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 380.0% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,458,224 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $206,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,403 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $157,412,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 548.7% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,125,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $149,673,000 after purchasing an additional 952,037 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,014,030 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,917,961,000 after purchasing an additional 636,301 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 49.8% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 671,695 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $94,413,000 after acquiring an additional 223,172 shares in the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DGX. TheStreet lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 11th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.18.

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.