Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $8.72-$8.97 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $8.75. The company issued revenue guidance of $9.40-$9.48 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $9.40 billion. Quest Diagnostics also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 8.720-8.970 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued a market perform rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho increased their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. TheStreet lowered Quest Diagnostics from a b- rating to a c rating in a report on Monday, February 5th. Leerink Partnrs reissued a market perform rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $146.17.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

NYSE:DGX opened at $135.42 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $128.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.11. The firm has a market cap of $15.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.91. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $147.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.52% and a net margin of 9.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 661 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 40,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,071,584.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total value of $316,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,067,904.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders 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.