Leerink Partnrs Issues Positive Forecast for LH Earnings

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) – Analysts at Leerink Partnrs raised their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note issued to investors on Friday, October 25th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now anticipates that the medical research company will post earnings of $3.86 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $3.85. The consensus estimate for Laboratory Co. of America’s current full-year earnings is $14.53 per share.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE LH opened at $227.42 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $222.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.59. The stock has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.05. 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 has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $239.50.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.71%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $2,770,506.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,647,501.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $131,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,312,450. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at $3,647,501.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,946,306 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,616,000 after purchasing an additional 924,881 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,771,000 after buying an additional 395,197 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after acquiring an additional 263,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter worth approximately $45,567,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Laboratory Co. of America

Labcorp Holdings Inc provides laboratory services. It operates through two segments, Diagnostics Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Services. The company offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid, PAP, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.