Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics updated its FY 2024 guidance to 8.850-8.950 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $8.85-$8.95 EPS.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of DGX stock traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $158.13. 77,451 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 918,115. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $120.87 and a 1 year high of $159.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $17.57 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $152.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.39.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on DGX. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.