Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $260.54.

A number of research firms recently commented on LH. Barclays boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. HSBC upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.9 %

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $234.16 on Tuesday. Laboratory Co. of America has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $247.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $234.73 and a 200 day moving average of $224.96. 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 (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 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 firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.52 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 $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.71%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total transaction of $2,815,675.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,522,814.27. This trade represents a 27.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,572 shares of company stock valued at $6,145,209. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter valued at $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised 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 buying an additional 263,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $354,528,000 after acquiring an additional 230,708 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% in 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 last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 95.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 282,964 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,527,000 after purchasing an additional 138,211 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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.