Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.30 EPS

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The medical research company reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.30, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics updated its FY 2026 guidance to 11.050-11.250 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Quest Diagnostics’ conference call:

• Quest Diagnostics reported second-quarter revenue growth of 10.2% to $3.04 billion, with adjusted diluted EPS up 19.1%, and said the results were driven by broad demand across physician, hospital and consumer channels.
• The company raised full-year 2026 guidance, now expecting revenue of $11.95 billion-$12.05 billion and adjusted EPS of $11.05-$11.25, citing strong first-half performance and continued momentum.
• Management said volume trends remain strong, with physician, hospital and consumer channels all growing; hospital revenues were up in double digits, and Quest sees a healthy pipeline for more co-lab and outreach deals.
• The company said reimbursement and pricing were broadly stable, with overall pricing roughly flat year over year and no meaningful change in bad debt or patient collections despite broader hospital-sector concerns.
• Quest highlighted continued progress in higher-growth advanced diagnostics, including Haystack MRD receiving New York State approval and expanded access via Flatiron integration, plus strong growth in brain health and cardiometabolic testing.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

Shares of Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $227.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $197.37. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $165.78 and a fifty-two week high of $237.78. The firm has a market cap of $25.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.58.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 8th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 38.01%.

More Quest Diagnostics News

Here are the key news stories impacting Quest Diagnostics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quest Diagnostics reported Q2 revenue of $3.04 billion, up 10.2% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $3.12, topping Wall Street estimates. Quest Diagnostics Reports Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results; Raises Revenue and EPS Guidance for Full Year 2026
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised full-year 2026 guidance, now expecting adjusted EPS of $11.05 to $11.25 and revenue of about $11.95 billion to $12.05 billion, signaling confidence in continued demand. Quest Diagnostics raises annual forecast on testing demand
• Positive Sentiment: Investors also appeared encouraged by commentary around strong preventive-health testing trends and growth in the company’s diagnostics business, which supports the stock’s upside move. Americans Are Buying More Preventive Health Tests—and Quest Diagnostics Is Winning

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at $2,702,000. The trade was a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 132,423 shares in the company, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners lifted its position in Quest Diagnostics by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,036,881 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $767,978,000 after purchasing an additional 997,033 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 95.5% during the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,661,072 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,246,000 after buying an additional 811,320 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 36.3% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,599,602 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $287,337,000 after buying an additional 426,399 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,693,568 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $467,415,000 after buying an additional 406,658 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 171.7% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 557,155 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $106,183,000 after buying an additional 352,072 shares during the period. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $236.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore set a $225.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $226.09.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX) is a leading provider of diagnostic information services that supports clinical decision-making for patients, physicians and healthcare organizations. The company operates a network of clinical laboratories and patient service centers that perform a broad range of laboratory tests and diagnostic assays used in routine care, disease diagnosis, monitoring and screening.

Its services span core clinical laboratory testing, anatomic pathology, molecular and genomic diagnostics, infectious disease testing and toxicology.