HM Payson & Co. Sells 550 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

HM Payson & Co. trimmed its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 19.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,340 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 550 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $537,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA lifted 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 valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted 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 valued at $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $3,483,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 valued at $2,931,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted 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 valued at $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on LH shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.38.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $253.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $243.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.72. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $258.59. The company has a market cap of $21.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.65%.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Labcorp Holdings, Inc engages in providing medical testing services. The company was founded on April 16, 2024 and is headquartered in Burlington, NC.