Quest Diagnostics (DGX) Projected to Post Earnings on Thursday

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) is expected to be releasing its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, January 30th. Analysts expect Quest Diagnostics to post earnings of $2.19 per share and revenue of $2,577,440.00 billion for the quarter. Persons that wish to listen to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $159.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $17.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.50, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.21. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $165.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on DGX shares. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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.