Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Releases FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

22 Oct 2024, 12:48 by Mitch Edgeman · The Markets Daily

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX – Get Free Report) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 8.850-8.950 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 8.850. The company issued revenue guidance of $9.8 billion-$9.9 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $9.7 billion.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE:DGX opened at $147.40 on Tuesday. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $120.87 and a fifty-two week high of $159.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a PE ratio of 19.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.20.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The medical research company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.39 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 8.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Quest Diagnostics will post 8.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Quest Diagnostics Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 4th were paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 4th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DGX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $153.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $158.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $144.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.92.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Quest Diagnostics

Insider Activity at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,206.34. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 420 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.08, for a total transaction of $60,093.60. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,118.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 1,990 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.26, for a total value of $304,987.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 11,459 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,206.34. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Company Profile

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