Zacks Research Has Negative Estimate for DGX Q3 Earnings

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research decreased their Q3 2026 earnings estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a report released on Tuesday, November 12th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the medical research company will post earnings per share of $2.61 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.62. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $8.90 per share.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $156.86 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $162.59. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $153.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.19. 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 market cap of $17.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,481,000 after acquiring an additional 18,642 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $1,853,151,000 after buying an additional 345,754 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth approximately $729,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $4,966,000 after acquiring an additional 20,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 292.5% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This represents a 15.42 % 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, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,382,661.05. The trade was a 34.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

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.