Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Now Covered by Redburn Atlantic

Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) in a report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $276.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on LH. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.38.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of LH opened at $236.74 on Wednesday. Laboratory Co. of America has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $258.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $244.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.05. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 5.73%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.40, for a total transaction of $56,590.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,137,817.60. This represents a 4.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,314 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.30, for a total transaction of $330,208.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $545,572.30. This trade represents a 37.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,258 shares of company stock valued at $3,753,177 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LH. Norges Bank bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth $239,811,000. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 150.9% in the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,595,957 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $365,985,000 after buying an additional 959,981 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 344.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,123,409 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $263,161,000 after buying an additional 870,903 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $123,415,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 59.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,021,104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $234,160,000 after acquiring an additional 380,624 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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.