Leerink Partnrs Issues Pessimistic Forecast for DGX Earnings

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Research analysts at Leerink Partnrs dropped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a report issued on Friday, November 22nd. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now anticipates that the medical research company will post earnings of $8.87 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $8.90. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $8.90 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ Q4 2024 earnings at $2.17 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.23 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $9.68 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $11.47 EPS.

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

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $164.58.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $162.28 on Monday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $155.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.79. The company has a market cap of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.89. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $123.04 and a 12-month high of $165.32.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 14th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 14th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, 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 transaction of $2,889,207.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 34,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,382,661.05. This represents a 34.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.92, for a total transaction of $278,533.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,459.28. This trade represents a 15.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $4,966,000 after buying an additional 20,800 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the third quarter valued at about $1,363,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 7.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 92,830 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $14,412,000 after buying an additional 6,619 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 292.5% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,733 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $648,000 after buying an additional 3,527 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position 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 buying an additional 238,007 shares during the last quarter. 88.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.