Scotia Capital Inc. Purchases 12,832 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,209 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,832 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. owned 0.12% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $23,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $239,811,000. Amundi boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 870,903 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth $123,415,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% in 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 last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LH shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.38.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 6.0 %

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $230.84 on Thursday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $258.59. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $241.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total transaction of $1,497,319.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,146,175.90. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy B. Summy sold 758 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.67, for a total transaction of $175,605.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,228,314.34. This represents a 12.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,258 shares of company stock worth $3,518,177 over the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.