What is William Blair's Estimate for DGX FY2025 Earnings?

Key Points

• William Blair has raised its FY2025 earnings per share estimate for Quest Diagnostics to $9.73, up from a previous estimate of $9.67.
• Quest Diagnostics reported Q3 earnings of $2.60 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations and reflecting a 13.2% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80, translating to an annual yield of 1.7%, with a payout ratio of 38.32%.

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX - Free Report) - Analysts at William Blair lifted their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Quest Diagnostics in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, October 21st. William Blair analyst A. Brackmann now forecasts that the medical research company will post earnings of $9.73 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $9.67. William Blair currently has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Quest Diagnostics' current full-year earnings is $9.70 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Quest Diagnostics' Q4 2025 earnings at $2.43 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.38 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.66 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $2.58 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $2.57 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $10.20 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Quest Diagnostics from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Leerink Partners set a $210.00 price objective on Quest Diagnostics in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial set a $195.00 price target on Quest Diagnostics in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Quest Diagnostics from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Quest Diagnostics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $193.19.

Quest Diagnostics Stock Performance

DGX opened at $184.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.63 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Quest Diagnostics has a 1 year low of $148.70 and a 1 year high of $197.55. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $182.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $176.46.

Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The medical research company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.73 billion. Quest Diagnostics had a return on equity of 15.24% and a net margin of 9.01%.Quest Diagnostics's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.30 earnings per share. Quest Diagnostics has set its FY 2025 guidance at 9.760-9.840 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quest Diagnostics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Quest Diagnostics in the first quarter worth $1,228,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 76.6% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 189 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 9.5% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 18,010 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 2.2% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 7,081 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,198,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Quest Diagnostics by 10.2% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 14,577 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quest Diagnostics news, SVP Patrick Plewman sold 5,535 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $968,625.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 19,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,363,325. The trade was a 22.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Karthik Kuppusamy sold 8,269 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.40, for a total value of $1,384,230.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,784,484. This represents a 43.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,186 shares of company stock valued at $9,647,471. 8.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quest Diagnostics Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Quest Diagnostics's payout ratio is currently 38.32%.

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.

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