FY2024 Earnings Forecast for DGX Issued By Leerink Partnrs

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Analysts at Leerink Partnrs decreased their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report issued on Friday, November 22nd. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now forecasts that the medical research company will earn $8.87 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $8.90. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $8.90 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ Q4 2024 earnings at $2.17 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.23 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $9.68 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $11.47 EPS.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on DGX. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Nine investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $162.28 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $123.04 and a 52-week high of $165.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $155.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $148.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.22 EPS.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 0.6% in the first quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 70,656 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $9,405,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth about $1,531,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,966,000 after purchasing an additional 20,800 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 19.7% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,022 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Levin Capital Strategies L.P. acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth about $628,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.