Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $8.85-$8.95 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $8.89. The company issued revenue guidance of $9.80-$9.85 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $9.68 billion. Quest Diagnostics also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 8.850-8.950 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DGX. Robert W. Baird upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $160.08.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE DGX traded up $1.26 on Wednesday, reaching $158.73. The company had a trading volume of 80,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 918,131. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.74 and a 200-day moving average of $144.39. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $120.87 and a 1 year high of $159.94. 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 (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.26 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.22 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.79% of the company’s stock.

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.