Brokers Set Expectations for Quest Diagnostics Incorporated’s FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:DGX)

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Investment analysts at Leerink Partnrs boosted their FY2024 earnings estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a research note issued on Tuesday, July 23rd. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now anticipates that the medical research company will post earnings per share of $8.92 for the year, up from their prior estimate of $8.88. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $8.87 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ Q4 2024 earnings at $2.23 EPS.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.38.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $143.91 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $141.06 and a 200-day moving average of $134.39. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $119.59 and a one year high of $150.59. The company has a market cap of $15.99 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mendota Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 4,933 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 24.7% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 3.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.2% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 8th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

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.