Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Updates FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided EPS guidance of 11.050-11.250 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 10.760. The company issued revenue guidance of $12.0 billion-$12.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $11.9 billion.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DGX. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $232.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $220.73.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of DGX opened at $211.12 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.58. Quest Diagnostics has a 12 month low of $165.78 and a 12 month high of $219.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $201.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. Analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 10.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.01%.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 13,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,702,000. This trade represents a 37.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,708,601.22. This represents a 7.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of DGX. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at about $527,000. Compound Planning Inc. raised its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 169.7% during the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 3,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $622,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 533.8% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 165,729 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $28,759,000 after purchasing an additional 139,582 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC boosted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC now owns 19,402 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $88,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.