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 EPS guidance of 8.720-8.970 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS 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.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $135.63. 48,607 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,050,998. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $119.59 and a 1 year high of $146.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $128.89 and its 200 day moving average is $131.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 8th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 38.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on DGX. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a market perform rating and a $135.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday. TheStreet downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a b- rating to a c rating in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Quest Diagnostics from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $146.17.

Insider Transactions at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total value of $103,560.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,930,712. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Quest Diagnostics 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 821 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.14, for a total transaction of $103,560.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,930,712. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.