Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The business had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. Quest Diagnostics updated its FY 2024 guidance to 8.800-9.000 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $8.80-9.00 EPS.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $145.60 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $119.59 and a fifty-two week high of $150.59. The stock has a market cap of $16.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.41, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.46.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 8th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on DGX shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.38.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

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 shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total transaction of $246,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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.