Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Releases FY25 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) updated its FY25 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $9.55-9.80 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.71. The company issued revenue guidance of $10.7-10.85 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $10.79 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on DGX. Leerink Partners raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $172.22 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $158.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $125.42 and a 1 year high of $178.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.40, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 41.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 528 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.61, for a total value of $91,138.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,737,140.91. The trade was a 1.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total transaction of $935,078.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,852,680.84. The trade was a 7.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,514 shares of company stock worth $1,634,445 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $323,000. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.