Leerink Partnrs Has Negative Forecast for LH Q4 Earnings

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) – Investment analysts at Leerink Partnrs lowered their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for Laboratory Co. of America in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, January 6th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now forecasts that the medical research company will post earnings of $3.40 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast 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.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis.

LH has been the subject of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. HSBC raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Four equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $260.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $234.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $234.37 and a 200-day moving average of $224.25. The stock 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. Laboratory Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total value of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,522,814.27. The trade was a 27.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $235,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,989,670. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,572 shares of company stock valued at $6,145,209 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 115.7% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 3,265 shares in the last quarter. Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $955,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,316,000. Banyan Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Banyan Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,689,000 after buying an additional 2,925 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 11.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 620,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $138,718,000 after buying an additional 65,356 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 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.