Leerink Partnrs Issues Negative Outlook for DGX Earnings

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) – Analysts at Leerink Partnrs cut their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Quest Diagnostics in a note issued to investors on Thursday, January 30th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now forecasts that the medical research company will post earnings of $2.21 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $2.23. Leerink Partnrs has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics’ current full-year earnings is $9.71 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics’ Q2 2025 earnings at $2.61 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.44 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $9.74 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $10.48 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $11.52 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $12.66 EPS.

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

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $145.00 to $172.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Quest Diagnostics from $177.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $157.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Quest Diagnostics from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $169.00 to $174.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $177.69.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX stock opened at $163.43 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $155.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.81. Quest Diagnostics has a fifty-two week low of $123.18 and a fifty-two week high of $167.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.91.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DGX. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 5,168.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 451,403 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $70,080,000 after purchasing an additional 442,835 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 25.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 747,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $116,018,000 after purchasing an additional 151,365 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 881,764 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 113,956 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 535.3% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 128,440 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,376,000 after purchasing an additional 108,224 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Quest Diagnostics by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 543,472 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $81,994,000 after purchasing an additional 104,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company’s stock.

Quest Diagnostics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. This is a positive change from Quest Diagnostics’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Quest Diagnostics’s payout ratio is 39.01%.

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.