Zacks Research Has Bearish Outlook for DGX FY2025 Earnings

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Research analysts at Zacks Research cut their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a research note issued on Wednesday, February 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the medical research company will earn $9.68 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $9.69. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $9.70 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ Q1 2026 earnings at $2.58 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $2.64 EPS.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.04. Quest Diagnostics had a net margin of 8.80% and a return on equity of 15.07%.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Quest Diagnostics has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.23.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $175.69 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $157.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $156.17. Quest Diagnostics has a 52-week low of $123.66 and a 52-week high of $176.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $19.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.91.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This is a boost from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,867 shares in the company, valued at $2,775,802.19. This trade represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael E. Prevoznik sold 604 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.99, for a total transaction of $103,277.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,845 shares in the company, valued at $6,813,096.55. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,792 shares of company stock valued at $465,998 over the last ninety days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,490,278 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $828,265,000 after buying an additional 1,637,525 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Quest Diagnostics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $191,823,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,433,913 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $367,180,000 after purchasing an additional 916,898 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,093,042 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $164,896,000 after purchasing an additional 497,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Quest Diagnostics during the fourth quarter valued at $67,447,000. 88.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Quest Diagnostics

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.