Zacks Research Has Bullish Forecast for DGX FY2024 Earnings

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Research analysts at Zacks Research lifted their FY2024 EPS estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a research note issued on Tuesday, November 12th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the medical research company will post earnings of $8.88 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $8.83. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $8.90 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ Q4 2024 earnings at $2.19 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.17 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.52 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $2.50 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.49 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $9.68 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.60 EPS and Q2 2026 earnings at $2.62 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on DGX. Truist Financial upped their price objective 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. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Baird R W upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 2.3 %

DGX stock opened at $156.86 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $153.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $147.19. Quest Diagnostics has a 12 month low of $123.04 and a 12 month high of $162.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter worth $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 77.5% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 229 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total value of $278,533.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. The trade was a 15.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Michael J. Deppe sold 18,755 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $2,889,207.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 22,520 shares of company stock valued at $3,472,728. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. Quest Diagnostics’s 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.