Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $8.72-$8.97 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $8.75. The company issued revenue guidance of $9.40-$9.48 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $9.40 billion.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE DGX opened at $130.09 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $128.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.95. The company has a market capitalization of $14.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $119.59 and a 1-year high of $148.62.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The medical research company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 9.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is presently 37.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on DGX. TheStreet downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a b- rating to a c rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs reissued a market perform rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quest Diagnostics from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a hold rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $144.18.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 5,557 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.57, for a total transaction of $703,349.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,809,145.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.