Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Releases FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) updated its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 11.050-11.250 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 10.760. The company issued revenue guidance of $12.0 billion-$12.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $11.9 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $220.73.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

NYSE DGX opened at $211.12 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.58. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $201.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.99. Quest Diagnostics has a 1-year low of $165.78 and a 1-year high of $219.20.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.30. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 9.07% and a return on equity of 15.60%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.97 billion. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.050-11.250 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quest Diagnostics will post 10.72 EPS for the current year.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 8th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is 38.01%.

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In other Quest Diagnostics news, CEO J. E. Davis sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.14, for a total value of $1,941,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 132,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,708,601.22. This trade represents a 7.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $1,629,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 13,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,702,000. This represents a 37.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quest Diagnostics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Quest Diagnostics in the fourth quarter valued at $323,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 130.8% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 644 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 706 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $84,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

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.