Leerink Partnrs Brokers Lower Earnings Estimates for DGX

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Equities research analysts at Leerink Partnrs cut their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report released on Wednesday, March 19th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now forecasts that the medical research company will post earnings of $2.11 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $2.21. Leerink Partnrs currently has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $9.70 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ Q3 2025 earnings at $2.49 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $2.46 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Leerink Partners raised Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $167.35 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $165.45 and a 200 day moving average of $158.73. 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 12 month low of $125.42 and a 12 month high of $178.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly 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%.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.61%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,723.20. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,852,680.84. This trade represents a 7.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,157 shares of company stock worth $2,423,755 over the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,969 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,940,000 after purchasing an additional 8,282 shares in the last quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $355,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 980.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,198 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,650,000 after purchasing an additional 21,958 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 26,428 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,987,000 after purchasing an additional 3,983 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.