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How to buy Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares
Own Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares in just a few minutes. Share price changes are updated daily.
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Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (DGX) is a leading diagnostics & research business based in the US. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is listed on the NYSE and employs 47,000 staff. All prices are listed in US Dollars.
How to buy shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated
- Choose a platform. If you're a beginner, our share-dealing table below can help you choose.
- Open your account. You'll need your ID, bank details and national insurance number.
- Confirm your payment details. You'll need to fund your account with a bank transfer, debit card or credit card.
- Search the platform for stock code: DGX in this case.
- Research Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares. The platform should provide the latest information available.
- Buy your Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares. It's that simple.
What's in this guide?
- Can I buy shares in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated?
- Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares summary
- Compare share dealing platforms
- Is Quest Diagnostics Incorporated stock a buy or sell?
- Can I short Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares?
- Is Quest Diagnostics Incorporated suitable for ethical investing?
- Are Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares over-valued?
- Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's financials
- How volatile are Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares?
- Does Quest Diagnostics Incorporated pay a dividend?
- Have Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares ever split?
- Other common questions
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated share price
Use our graph to track the performance of DGX stocks over time.Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares at a glance
Information last updated 2021-01-23.
| 52-week range | $71.4419 - $130.5713 |
|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | $122.7979 |
| 200-day moving average | $120.5636 |
| Wall St. target price | $141.38 |
| PE ratio | 15.3465 |
| Dividend yield | $2.24 (1.8%) |
| Earnings per share (TTM) | $8.11 |
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All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
Is it a good time to buy Quest Diagnostics Incorporated stock?
The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.
Is Quest Diagnostics Incorporated under- or over-valued?
Valuing Quest Diagnostics Incorporated stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's P/E ratio
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 15x. In other words, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares trade at around 15x recent earnings.
That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's PEG ratio
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.3804. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.
The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's EBITDA
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is a whopping $1.9 billion.
The EBITDA is a measure of a Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated financials
| Revenue TTM | $8.4 billion |
|---|---|
| Operating margin TTM | 18.91% |
| Gross profit TTM | $2.7 billion |
| Return on assets TTM | 7.55% |
| Return on equity TTM | 18.85% |
| Profit margin | 13.22% |
| Book value | $47.407 |
| Market capitalisation | $16.8 billion |
TTM: trailing 12 months
How to short and sell Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares
- Create a CFD or spread betting account.
- Search for the stock code. E.g. "DGX.US"
- Choose your position size.
- Select "sell" rather than "buy".
- Confirm your position and keep tabs on it. You may wish to set limits on your position.
There are currently 2.8 million Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares held short by investors – that's known as Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's "short interest". This figure is 19.7% up from 2.4 million last month.
There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares can be evaluated.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's "short interest ratio" (SIR)
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares traded daily (recently around 1.1 million). Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's SIR currently stands at 2.49. In other words for every 100,000 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares traded daily on the market, roughly 2490 shares are currently held short.
However Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares, or, against the total number of tradable Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's short interest could be expressed as 0.02% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares in existence, roughly 20 shares are currently held short) or 0.0237% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares, roughly 24 shares are currently held short).
Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Quest Diagnostics Incorporated.
Find out more about how you can short Quest Diagnostics Incorporated stock.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's environmental, social and governance track record
Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Quest Diagnostics Incorporated.
When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's total ESG risk score
Total ESG risk: 18.33
Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's overall score of 18.33 (as at 01/01/2019) is excellent – landing it in it in the 16th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.
ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's environmental score
Environmental score: 0.86/100
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's environmental score of 0.86 puts it squarely in the 1st percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's social score
Social score: 10.42/100
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's social score of 10.42 puts it squarely in the 1st percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's governance score
Governance score: 5.77/100
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's governance score puts it squarely in the 1st percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's controversy score
Controversy score: 3/5
ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. A high-profile company, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated scored a 3 out of 5 for controversy – a middle-of-the-table result reflecting that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated hasn't always managed to keep its nose clean.
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.
| Total ESG score | 18.33 |
|---|---|
| Total ESG percentile | 16.26 |
| Environmental score | 0.86 |
| Environmental score percentile | 1 |
| Social score | 10.42 |
| Social score percentile | 1 |
| Governance score | 5.77 |
| Governance score percentile | 1 |
| Level of controversy | 3 |
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated share dividends
Dividend payout ratio: 26.86% of net profits
Recently Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has paid out, on average, around 26.86% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 1.8% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shareholders could enjoy a 1.8% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's case, that would currently equate to about $2.24 per share.
While Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's payout ratio might seem fairly standard, it's worth remembering that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated may be investing much of the rest of its net profits in future growth.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's most recent dividend payout was on 3 February 2021. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 19 January 2021 (the "ex-dividend date").
Have Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's shares ever split?
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 21 June 2005. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Quest Diagnostics Incorporated shares which in turn could have impacted Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's share price.
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated share price volatility
Over the last 12 months, Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's shares have ranged in value from as little as $71.4419 up to $130.5713. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".
Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's is 1.0641. This would suggest that Quest Diagnostics Incorporated's shares are a little bit more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a slightly higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).
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Quest Diagnostics Incorporated overview
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated provides diagnostic testing, information, and services in the United States and internationally. The company develops and delivers diagnostic information services, such as routine testing, non-routine and advanced clinical testing, anatomic pathology testing, and other diagnostic information services. It offers diagnostic information services primarily under the Quest Diagnostics brand, as well as under the AmeriPath, Dermpath Diagnostics, Athena Diagnostics, ExamOne, and Quanum brands to patients, clinicians, hospitals, integrated delivery networks, health plans, employers, and accountable care organizations through a network of laboratories, patient service centers, phlebotomists in physician offices, call centers and mobile paramedics, nurses, and other health and wellness professionals. The company also offers risk assessment services for the life insurance industry; and healthcare organizations and clinicians robust information technology solutions. Quest Diagnostics Incorporated has a strategic collaboration with hc1; and strategic relationships with Clinical Genomics Pty Ltd and Anthem Inc. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey.
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