Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Issues Earnings Results

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The medical research company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.04, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.22 EPS. Quest Diagnostics updated its FY 2024 guidance to 8.850-8.950 EPS and its FY24 guidance to $8.85-$8.95 EPS.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $158.00. 1,233,235 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 926,285. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.00. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $121.60 and a 52-week high of $160.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.57. The company has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89.

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 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 1.90%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 40.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $154.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Baird R W raised Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $304,987.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.