Leerink Partnrs Issues Negative Outlook for DGX Earnings

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Leerink Partnrs decreased their Q3 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Quest Diagnostics in a report issued on Tuesday, April 22nd. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now anticipates that the medical research company will earn $2.53 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.54. 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’ FY2026 earnings at $10.48 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $11.45 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $12.51 EPS.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The medical research company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by $0.06. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 8.80%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on DGX. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $178.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective (up from $165.00) on shares of Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Redburn Partners set a $195.00 target price on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $185.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $183.73.

Quest Diagnostics Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DGX opened at $173.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Quest Diagnostics has a 12-month low of $134.05 and a 12-month high of $178.87. The business has a 50 day moving average of $168.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.98. The company has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.78.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,410 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,843 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $580,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group increased its position in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group now owns 6,495 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $980,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,811 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,140,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Clarius Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 1,421 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quest Diagnostics

In related news, Director Vicky B. Gregg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.57, for a total value of $205,712.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark E. Delaney sold 403 shares of Quest Diagnostics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.30, for a total transaction of $66,212.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,624 shares in the company, valued at $759,723.20. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,903 shares of company stock worth $9,460,221 in the last three months. 8.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 40.46%.

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.