Quest Diagnostics Incorporated Forecasted to Post Q3 2024 Earnings of $2.30 Per Share (NYSE:DGX)

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Leerink Partnrs reduced their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a research note issued on Tuesday, July 23rd. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now expects that the medical research company will post earnings of $2.30 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.34. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $8.89 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ FY2025 earnings at $9.65 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $10.60 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $11.62 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $12.77 EPS.

DGX has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.38.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $144.25 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a 12 month low of $119.59 and a 12 month high of $150.59. The company has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $141.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.46.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.31 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth $140,472,000. Nuance Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter worth about $83,070,000. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,783,000. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter valued at about $46,432,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 worth $1,853,151,000 after buying an additional 345,754 shares during 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 1,760 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.