Quest Diagnostics Incorporated to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $2.32 Per Share, Leerink Partnrs Forecasts (NYSE:DGX)

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Investment analysts at Leerink Partnrs lifted their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a research note issued to investors on Monday, August 26th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now anticipates that the medical research company will earn $2.32 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $2.30. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $8.89 per share.

DGX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.33.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $156.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.03, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.66. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $156.71.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $60,093.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,118.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of DGX. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 41,796 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,562,000 after acquiring an additional 14,090 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 135,148 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $18,634,000 after acquiring an additional 7,415 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at $1,562,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,481,000 after acquiring an additional 18,642 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after acquiring an additional 345,754 shares during the period. 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.