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

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) updated its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 9.550-9.800 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 9.720. The company issued revenue guidance of $10.7 billion-$10.9 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $10.7 billion.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $162.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $123.04 and a 1 year high of $167.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.50. The firm has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.82%. Equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders 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 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.79% of the stock is owned by 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.