Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) To Go Ex-Dividend on July 8th

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 8th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 8th.

Quest Diagnostics has raised its dividend payment 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. 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 $194.13 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $164.65 and a 52-week high of $213.50. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $195.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.30. The firm has a market cap of $21.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.60.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The medical research company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for 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 business’s revenue was up 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.630-10.830 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on DGX. Mizuho boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $224.00 to $229.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.