Leerink Partnrs Issues Pessimistic Estimate for LH Earnings

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) – Research analysts at Leerink Partnrs lowered their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for Laboratory Co. of America in a research note issued to investors on Monday, January 6th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now expects that the medical research company will post earnings per share of $3.40 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $3.47. The consensus estimate for Laboratory Co. of America’s current full-year earnings is $14.52 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Laboratory Co. of America’s Q2 2025 earnings at $4.05 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $4.16 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $4.16 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $16.21 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $17.28 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 target price (up from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $234.18 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $234.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $224.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a PE ratio of 45.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. Laboratory Co. of America 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.38 EPS.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% in the third 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. boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 29,046 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,964,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $437,561,000 after buying an additional 13,298 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 167,137 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $416,893,000 after acquiring an additional 263,105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,031,613.38. This represents a 45.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,572 shares of company stock valued at $6,145,209 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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 paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.71%.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

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.