FY2025 EPS Forecast for Quest Diagnostics Reduced by Analyst

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) - Equities researchers at Leerink Partnrs cut their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, October 22nd. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now expects that the medical research company will post earnings of $9.70 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $10.09. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics' current full-year earnings is $8.89 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics' FY2026 earnings at $10.42 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $11.50 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on DGX. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com lowered Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $163.33.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.9 %

NYSE DGX traded down $2.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $155.04. The stock had a trading volume of 814,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 925,746. The company has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50-day moving average price is $153.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.00. Quest Diagnostics has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $160.95.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.22 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DGX. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth $48,783,000. M&G Plc bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 1st quarter worth $46,432,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,853,151,000 after buying an additional 345,754 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $37,993,000 after purchasing an additional 238,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $41,028,000 after purchasing an additional 206,640 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. 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.