Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 8.720-8.970 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 8.750. The company issued revenue guidance of $9.4 billion-$9.5 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $9.4 billion. Quest Diagnostics also updated its FY24 guidance to $8.72-$8.97 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DGX. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday. TheStreet cut shares of Quest Diagnostics from a b- rating to a c rating in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quest Diagnostics from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Leerink Partnrs reissued a market perform rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.5 %

Quest Diagnostics stock traded down $2.08 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $135.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,016,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,063,713. The company has a market cap of $15.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.11. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $119.59 and a fifty-two week high of $147.96.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 15.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total transaction of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at $4,843,610.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $83,378.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at $5,071,584.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202. 0.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.