William Blair Issues Positive Outlook for LH Earnings

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) – William Blair lifted their Q2 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Laboratory Co. of America in a research report issued on Monday, February 10th. William Blair analyst A. Brackmann now expects that the medical research company will post earnings per share of $4.00 for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $3.92. The consensus estimate for Laboratory Co. of America’s current full-year earnings is $15.96 per share.

LH has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI upgraded 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 research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.31.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $246.74 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $20.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Laboratory Co. of America has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $258.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $237.13 and its 200-day moving average is $230.66.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.05. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 5.73%.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,342 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 15,186 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,483,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,780 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,931,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 7,194 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total value of $239,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,251.40. This trade represents a 27.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total value of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,522,814.27. The trade was a 27.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,504 shares of company stock valued at $5,905,692 in the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors 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 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.65%.

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.