Avanza Fonder AB Purchases New Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,928 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,589,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LH. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after buying an additional 263,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after buying an additional 230,708 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $431,405,000 after acquiring an additional 167,137 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 95.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 282,964 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,527,000 after acquiring an additional 138,211 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on LH shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 target price (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.54.

Insider Activity

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,572 shares of company stock worth $6,145,209. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $238.44 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $247.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $234.80 and its 200 day moving average is $225.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.12, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.06.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.71%.

About Laboratory Co. of America

Labcorp Holdings, Inc engages in providing medical testing services. The company was founded on April 16, 2024 and is headquartered in Burlington, NC.