Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Releases FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) updated its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 9.550-9.800 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 9.710. The company issued revenue guidance of $10.7 billion-$10.9 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $10.8 billion.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on DGX. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Leerink Partners upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $169.00 to $174.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.38.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of DGX stock opened at $166.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $165.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a PE ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $125.42 and a 12-month high of $178.87.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. As a group, analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 9.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 4,643 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $789,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,117 shares in the company, valued at $6,479,890. The trade was a 10.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,370 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.13, for a total value of $935,078.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,852,680.84. This trade represents a 7.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,157 shares of company stock worth $2,423,755 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,144 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $323,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.