Quest Diagnostics Incorporated Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.86 (NYSE:DGX)

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.86 per share by the medical research company on Wednesday, July 22nd. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 8th.

Quest Diagnostics has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Quest Diagnostics has a payout ratio of 32.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Quest Diagnostics to earn $11.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.8%.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $190.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.60. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $164.65 and a fifty-two week high of $213.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.18.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 9.07%.The company’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DGX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $216.58.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.