Zacks Research Has Positive Forecast for DGX FY2025 Earnings

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) - Analysts at Zacks Research lifted their FY2025 earnings estimates for shares of Quest Diagnostics in a note issued to investors on Thursday, January 9th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the medical research company will post earnings per share of $9.69 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $9.68. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics' current full-year earnings is $8.90 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics' Q1 2026 earnings at $2.61 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $2.59 EPS.

DGX has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $185.00 price objective (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.15.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $151.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $156.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $123.04 and a 52 week high of $165.32.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.22 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio is 40.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 9.1% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 12,123 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 142.0% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,309 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 13,014 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,781,000 after purchasing an additional 2,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 226,598 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $31,017,000 after purchasing an additional 6,230 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

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.