Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 8.850-8.950 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 8.850. The company issued revenue guidance of $9.8 billion-$9.9 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $9.7 billion. Quest Diagnostics also updated its FY24 guidance to $8.85-$8.95 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on DGX shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.08.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $157.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $120.87 and a 52-week high of $159.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $152.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.39.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.79% 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.