William Blair Has Optimistic Outlook of DGX Q3 Earnings

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Investment analysts at William Blair lifted their Q3 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, October 22nd. William Blair analyst A. Brackmann now expects that the medical research company will earn $2.50 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $2.45. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $8.89 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ Q4 2025 earnings at $2.62 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.72 EPS.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.33.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $155.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $123.04 and a 12-month high of $160.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $153.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.75.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.22 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,697 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 389 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management now owns 2,312 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Arjuna Capital now owns 1,770 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.