Quest Diagnostics (DGX) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) will likely be issuing its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, January 30th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $2.19 per share and revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter. Parties that wish to register for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $157.29 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $155.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.42. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $123.04 and a fifty-two week high of $165.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on DGX shares. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.