Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided EPS guidance of $8.80-9.00 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $8.85. The company issued revenue guidance of $9.50-9.58 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $9.46 billion. Quest Diagnostics also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 8.800-9.000 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on DGX. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $149.38.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Quest Diagnostics stock traded up $2.43 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $146.34. 259,599 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 984,879. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $119.59 and a fifty-two week high of $150.59. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $141.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $16.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 8.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.38%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.