Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) - Investment analysts at Zacks Research increased their FY2024 earnings estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, November 12th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the medical research company will post earnings of $8.88 per share for the year, up from their prior forecast of $8.83. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics' current full-year earnings is $8.90 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics' Q4 2024 earnings at $2.19 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.17 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.52 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.50 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.49 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $9.68 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.60 EPS and Q2 2026 earnings at $2.62 EPS.
A number of other brokerages have also commented on DGX. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $164.58.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on DGX
Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance
Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock traded down $3.42 on Thursday, hitting $157.13. The stock had a trading volume of 286,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 912,875. The stock has a market cap of $17.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89. The business's 50 day moving average is $153.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $147.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Quest Diagnostics has a twelve month low of $123.04 and a twelve month high of $162.59.
Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. Quest Diagnostics's quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.22 EPS.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics
In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 34,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,527,459.28. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,520 shares of company stock worth $3,472,728 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.
Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Quest Diagnostics's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.32%.
About Quest Diagnostics
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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