Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) Expected to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $2.18 Per Share

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Research analysts at Leerink Partnrs cut their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Quest Diagnostics in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 23rd. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now anticipates that the medical research company will earn $2.18 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.35. Leerink Partnrs currently has a “Market Perform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $8.74 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ FY2024 earnings at $8.37 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $10.05 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $10.98 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $11.97 EPS.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

DGX has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $134.26 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $129.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.17. Quest Diagnostics has a 52 week low of $119.59 and a 52 week high of $146.85. The company has a market capitalization of $14.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.07, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 12.3% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,554,517 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $433,153,000 after acquiring an additional 388,162 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,476,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $479,357,000 after buying an additional 62,114 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,632,326 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $362,945,000 after purchasing an additional 18,533 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,001,347 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,884,000 after purchasing an additional 538,377 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,798,803 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $219,202,000 after buying an additional 92,542 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at $5,071,584.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.22%.

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.