Quest Diagnostics - DGX Stock Forecast, Price & News

10 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Quest Diagnostics in the last twelve months. There are currently 1 sell rating, 6 hold ratings and 3 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "hold" DGX shares. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in DGX, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.
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10 brokerages have issued twelve-month target prices for Quest Diagnostics' shares. Their DGX share price forecasts range from $125.00 to $165.00. On average, they predict the company's stock price to reach $150.91 in the next year. This suggests a possible upside of 7.7% from the stock's current price.
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Quest Diagnostics' stock was trading at $156.44 at the start of the year. Since then, DGX shares have decreased by 10.5% and is now trading at $140.06.
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Quest Diagnostics saw a increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totaling 3,320,000 shares, an increase of 8.9% from the February 13th total of 3,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 3.0% of the company's stock are short sold.
View Quest Diagnostics' Short Interest.

The company is scheduled to release its next quarterly earnings announcement on Thursday, April 20th 2023.
View our DGX earnings forecast.

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February, 2nd. The medical research company reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.08. The medical research company had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.26 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 18.84% and a net margin of 9.57%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.33 EPS.
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Quest Diagnostics announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share on Monday, April 24th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 6th. This is an increase from the stock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.66.
Read our dividend analysis for DGX.

ETFs with the largest weight of Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) stock in their portfolio include ETFMG Treatments Testing and Advancements ETF (GERM), Vesper U.S. Large Cap Short-Term Reversal Strategy ETF (UTRN), AAM Bahl & Gaynor Small/Mid Cap Income Growth ETF (SMIG), iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF (IHF), First Trust Dorsey Wright Momentum & Low Volatility ETF (DVOL), Davis Select U.S. Equity ETF (DUSA), Freedom Day Dividend ETF (MBOX) and Nuveen ESG Mid-Cap Value ETF (NUMV).

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) pays an annual dividend of $2.64 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 1.94%. The company has been increasing its dividend for 13 consecutive years, indicating the company has a strong committment to maintain and grow its dividend. The dividend payout ratio is 33.33%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%. Based on earnings estimates, DGX will have a dividend payout ratio of 28.95% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.
Read our dividend analysis for DGX.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 2nd 2023, which authorizes the company to buyback $1,000,000,000.00 in outstanding shares, according to EventVestor. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Quest Diagnostics updated its FY 2023 earnings guidance on Friday, March, 24th. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $8.40-$9.00 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $8.72. The company issued revenue guidance of $8.83 billion-$9.03 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $8.97 billion.

1,053 employees have rated Quest Diagnostics Chief Executive Officer Steve Rusckowski on Glassdoor.com. Steve Rusckowski has an approval rating of 78% among the company's employees.

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some companies that other Quest Diagnostics investors own include CA (CA), BlackRock (BLK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Micron Technology (MU), Gilead Sciences (GILD), Pfizer (PFE), Abbott Laboratories (ABT), NVIDIA (NVDA), Intel (INTC) and Cisco Systems (CSCO).

Quest Diagnostics trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol "DGX."

Quest Diagnostics' stock is owned by many different retail and institutional investors. Top institutional shareholders include Victory Capital Management Inc. (2.93%), Victory Capital Management Inc. (2.85%), Geode Capital Management LLC (2.07%), Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (1.79%), Morgan Stanley (1.66%) and Davis Selected Advisers (1.61%). Insiders that own company stock include Catherine T Doherty, Daniel Stanzione, Gail R Wilensky, Manner Carrie Eglinton, Mark Guinan, Michael E Prevoznik, Michael J Deppe, Stephen H Rusckowski, Stephen H Rusckowski and Timothy M Ring.
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Shares of DGX stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include WeBull, Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Robinhood, Fidelity, and Charles Schwab.
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One share of DGX stock can currently be purchased for approximately $140.06.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion and generates $9.88 billion in revenue each year. The medical research company earns $946 million in net income (profit) each year or $7.92 on an earnings per share basis.

The company employs 49,000 workers across the globe.

Quest Diagnostics' mailing address is 500 PLAZA DRIVE, SECAUCUS NJ, 07094. The official website for the company is www.questdiagnostics.com. The medical research company can be reached via phone at (973) 520-2700, via email at investor@questdiagnostics.com, or via fax at 201-462-4169.