Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Has $1.07 Million Stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,642 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $1,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter valued at about $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $416,893,000 after acquiring an additional 263,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after acquiring an additional 230,708 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 95.5% during 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 during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of LH opened at $246.29 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $234.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $226.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $247.99. The company has a market capitalization of $20.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.64, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.06.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $639,251.40. This represents a 27.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,572 shares of company stock worth $5,915,209 over the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LH. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of 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. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 target price (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.54.

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.