Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Stock Position Boosted by Choate Investment Advisors

Choate Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 320,152 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $73,417,000 after buying an additional 28,229 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Group Corp bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,562,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 568,724 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $130,420,000 after purchasing an additional 67,002 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 about $123,415,000. Finally, Impact Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $306,000. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

LH stock opened at $240.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $20.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.14. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LH has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $235,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at $2,989,670. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 5,339 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.23, for a total transaction of $1,330,638.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,236,180.80. This trade represents a 51.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 14,500 shares of company stock worth $3,577,572. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company 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.