Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.18 EPS

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The medical research company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.18, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.29 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.79% and a net margin of 9.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. Quest Diagnostics updated its FY24 guidance to $8.72-$8.97 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 8.720-8.970 EPS.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE DGX traded up $0.92 on Wednesday, hitting $137.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 562,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,051,003. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $119.59 and a 52-week high of $148.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.03. The firm has a market cap of $15.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.40, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.64, for a total value of $316,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,067,904.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 5,611 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.88, for a total value of $706,312.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 38,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,843,610.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,150 shares of company stock worth $1,913,202. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DGX. UBS Group increased their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $139.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Leerink Partnrs restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink started coverage on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $135.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $146.25.

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.