Leerink Partnrs Issues Negative Outlook for DGX Earnings

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Equities research analysts at Leerink Partnrs lowered their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a research note issued to investors on Friday, April 4th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now forecasts that the medical research company will post earnings of $2.58 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $2.59. Leerink Partnrs currently has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $9.70 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ Q3 2025 earnings at $2.54 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on DGX. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup downgraded Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Eight investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.57.

Quest Diagnostics Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DGX opened at $164.08 on Monday. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $125.42 and a 1 year high of $178.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day moving average is $168.21 and its 200 day moving average is $159.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The medical research company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,263,231 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $817,117,000 after acquiring an additional 70,578 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,690,021 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $404,764,000 after acquiring an additional 73,368 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Quest Diagnostics by 60.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 916,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Quest Diagnostics by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 2,268,990 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $342,300,000 after acquiring an additional 26,214 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total transaction of $205,712.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,775,802.19. This represents a 6.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 2,555 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $434,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,797,750. The trade was a 19.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221 over the last 90 days. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th. This is an increase from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.61%.

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.