Quest Diagnostics (DGX) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) is expected to be announcing its earnings results 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. Investors interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of DGX opened at $157.29 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.42. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on DGX. Morgan Stanley raised Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.15.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.