Meridian Financial Partners LLC Sells 53 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Meridian Financial Partners LLC lowered its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,377 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 53 shares during the quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $1,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LH. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,726,627 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,827,000 after purchasing an additional 25,469 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,978,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,197,000 after purchasing an additional 29,046 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,964,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $437,561,000 after purchasing an additional 13,298 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $431,405,000 after buying an additional 167,137 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,893,000 after buying an additional 263,105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,672 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.91, for a total value of $877,277.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,031,613.38. This represents a 45.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,572 shares of company stock worth $6,145,209. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $234.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.37, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $234.84 and its 200-day moving average is $225.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

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