Leerink Partnrs Has Negative Outlook of DGX FY2025 Earnings

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Equities research analysts at Leerink Partnrs lowered their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a report released on Tuesday, October 22nd. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now anticipates that the medical research company will earn $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 subject of several other research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.33.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.9 %

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $155.04 on Friday. Quest Diagnostics has a one year low of $123.04 and a one year high of $160.95. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $153.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. Quest Diagnostics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.22 EPS.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total transaction of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This trade represents 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 through this hyperlink. 0.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 50.9% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 41,796 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,562,000 after buying an additional 14,090 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 16.5% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 131,329 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,481,000 after acquiring an additional 18,642 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,921,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,853,151,000 after purchasing an additional 345,754 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth about $729,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 126.0% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 37,305 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $4,966,000 after purchasing an additional 20,800 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.