Equities Analysts Offer Predictions for DGX Q4 Earnings

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Research analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q4 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report issued on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the medical research company will post earnings of $2.58 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $2.47. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $9.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ Q1 2027 earnings at $2.54 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on DGX. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Evercore set a $220.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $205.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Down 1.0%

Quest Diagnostics stock opened at $208.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $157.20 and a 1-year high of $213.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The medical research company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.35 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.75 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.99% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.45-9.650 EPS.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a $0.86 dividend. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 36.57%.

Quest Diagnostics declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the medical research company to purchase up to 4.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Catherine T. Doherty sold 1,433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total transaction of $293,521.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 68,402 shares in the company, valued at $14,010,781.66. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 1,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.83, for a total transaction of $227,566.13. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 38,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,859,531.93. The trade was a 2.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 9,164 shares of company stock valued at $1,872,363 in the last three months. Company insiders own 8.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter worth about $323,000. AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 18,400.0% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 185 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 2,623 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $84,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 29.0% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,787 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 1,975 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Quest Diagnostics

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

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised multiple near‑ and multi‑year EPS forecasts for Quest, lifting FY2026 to $10.57 (from $10.26), FY2027 to $11.42 (from $11.21) and FY2028 to $12.54, and increasing several quarterly estimates (Q1‑26 $2.37, Q2‑26 $2.84, Q3‑26 $2.79, Q2‑27 $2.92, Q3‑27 $2.90, Q4‑27 $3.06). The revisions signal stronger expected earnings power versus prior guidance and consensus. Zacks Research Estimate Revisions
• Neutral Sentiment: Quest announced “Quest AI Companion,” an AI chat feature (built with Google’s Gemini) to help patients and providers interpret up to five years of lab data. This could improve patient engagement and differentiation over time but is unlikely to materially affect near‑term revenue/earnings. Quest AI Companion Release

About Quest Diagnostics

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.