Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Updates FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) issued an update on its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Friday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 9.550-9.800 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 9.710. The company issued revenue guidance of $10.7 billion-$10.9 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $10.8 billion.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on DGX. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $166.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $164.88 and a 200 day moving average of $158.53. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $125.42 and a one year high of $178.87. The company has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.62, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,775,802.19. The trade was a 6.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,157 shares of company stock worth $2,423,755 over the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $323,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.