FY2025 EPS Forecast for Quest Diagnostics Lowered by Analyst

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Leerink Partnrs dropped their FY2025 earnings estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, October 22nd. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now expects that the medical research company will post earnings of $9.70 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $10.09. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $8.89 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ FY2026 earnings at $10.42 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $11.50 EPS.

DGX has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Baird R W raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.33.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $158.00 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $121.60 and a 1 year high of $160.95.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.22 earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the second quarter valued at about $48,783,000. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the first quarter valued at about $46,432,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,853,151,000 after purchasing an additional 345,754 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 601.7% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 277,561 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,993,000 after purchasing an additional 238,007 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 222.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 299,740 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $41,028,000 after purchasing an additional 206,640 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.38%.

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.