Venturi Wealth Management LLC Buys 1,044 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 64.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,669 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after purchasing an additional 230,708 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in 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 valued at $431,405,000 after purchasing an additional 167,137 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 577,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $128,990,000 after purchasing an additional 105,443 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 284,097 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $63,490,000 after purchasing an additional 77,921 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,052,927 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,321,000 after purchasing an additional 68,974 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Dwight Gary Gilliland sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total value of $241,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,592. This represents a 11.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total transaction of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,522,814.27. The trade was a 27.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 23,504 shares of company stock worth $5,666,272. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $247.79 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $258.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $237.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.31. The stock has a market cap of $20.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on LH shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of 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. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.31.

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.