Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 8.850-8.950 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 8.850. The company issued revenue guidance of $9.8 billion-$9.9 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $9.7 billion. Quest Diagnostics also updated its FY24 guidance to $8.85-$8.95 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.92.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE DGX opened at $148.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $152.60 and a 200-day moving average of $144.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $120.87 and a 1-year high of $159.36. The firm has a market cap of $16.47 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.89 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,118.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.79% 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.