Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Issues FY25 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) updated its FY25 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of $9.55-9.80 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $9.71. The company issued revenue guidance of $10.7-10.85 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $10.79 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Leerink Partnrs raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX stock opened at $166.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $125.42 and a 1 year high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total value of $66,212.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $759,723.20. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total value of $935,078.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,068 shares in the company, valued at $11,852,680.84. This represents a 7.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,157 shares of company stock worth $2,423,755. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position 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 (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $323,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by 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.