Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 58.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 45,248 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 63,562 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.05% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $10,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth about $1,682,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 62,546 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $14,343,000 after buying an additional 24,357 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,860,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 12.4% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 223,162 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $51,176,000 after acquiring an additional 24,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 921,184 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $211,246,000 after acquiring an additional 95,162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LH shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,989,670. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,146,175.90. This 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:LH opened at $229.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average is $244.80 and its 200-day moving average is $234.48. The firm has a market cap of $19.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released 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 net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 15.29%. Equities analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

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

Laboratory Co. of America Profile

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