William Blair Issues Optimistic Estimate for DGX Earnings

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) - Research analysts at William Blair boosted their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Quest Diagnostics in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, October 22nd. William Blair analyst A. Brackmann now anticipates that the medical research company will post earnings of $2.50 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.45. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics' current full-year earnings is $8.89 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics' Q4 2025 earnings at $2.62 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.72 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a report on Wednesday. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $163.33.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX traded up $0.88 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $158.00. 1,233,235 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 926,285. The company's 50 day moving average price is $153.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.57. The firm has a market cap of $17.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $121.60 and a 52 week high of $160.95. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. Quest Diagnostics's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after buying an additional 345,754 shares during the period. Davis Selected Advisers boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 2,390,828 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $327,257,000 after acquiring an additional 9,665 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Quest Diagnostics by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,109,515 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $288,758,000 after acquiring an additional 129,395 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 2.1% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 748,680 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $115,621,000 after purchasing an additional 15,047 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 13.1% during the first quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 681,636 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $90,733,000 after purchasing an additional 79,152 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is 40.38%.

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.