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

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Leerink Partnrs dropped their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, April 23rd. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now anticipates that the medical research company will post earnings of $2.18 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $2.35. Leerink Partnrs has a “Market Perform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $8.75 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ FY2024 earnings at $8.37 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $10.05 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $10.98 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $11.97 EPS.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on DGX. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TheStreet lowered Quest Diagnostics from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.25.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of DGX opened at $137.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.51, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $128.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $119.59 and a 1 year high of $148.62.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 19,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,417 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 1,909 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Naples Global Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 6,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total value of $316,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,067,904.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Quest Diagnostics news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total value of $316,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,067,904.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,150 shares of company stock valued at $1,913,202 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.22%.

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.