FY2024 Earnings Estimate for Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Issued By Leerink Partnrs

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Research analysts at Leerink Partnrs raised their FY2024 EPS estimates for shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, August 26th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now expects that the medical research company will earn $8.98 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $8.92. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $8.89 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ Q4 2024 earnings at $2.26 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also commented on DGX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.42.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of DGX stock opened at $153.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.41. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $119.59 and a one year high of $154.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 16,259 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,242,000 after acquiring an additional 2,640 shares in the last quarter. Ledyard National Bank acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $258,000. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $234,000. Finally, Sivik Global Healthcare LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,136,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $60,093.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,118.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.38%.

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.