Leerink Partnrs Equities Analysts Cut Earnings Estimates for Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX)

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Investment analysts at Leerink Partnrs reduced their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report issued to clients and investors 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.

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

Several other research firms have also commented on DGX. Citigroup raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Mizuho upped 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.38.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

DGX opened at $144.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.02 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 current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $141.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.46. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $119.59 and a 12-month high of $150.59.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,760 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.00, for a total value of $246,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,435 shares in the company, valued at $1,880,900. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 79.3% in the 4th quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 242 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.