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

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $269.92.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on LH shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.8 %

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $229.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $234.58. Laboratory Co. of America has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.05. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 15.29%. On average, analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $235,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,989,670. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total transaction of $1,497,319.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 86,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,146,175.90. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,577,572 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after buying an additional 230,708 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter worth approximately $596,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 17,689 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,953,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 914,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $204,265,000 after purchasing an additional 49,203 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.