Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Acquired by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,003,998 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,255 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.40% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $458,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tradewinds LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 301.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 39,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,983,000 after purchasing an additional 29,414 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 22,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 4,416 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,013,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 4.7 %

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $222.49 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. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $258.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $243.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.84. The company has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is 32.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LH. Citigroup raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Evercore ISI raised Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $270.38.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total transaction of $1,497,319.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares in the company, valued at $21,146,175.90. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 226 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.40, for a total transaction of $56,590.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,137,817.60. The trade was a 4.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,258 shares of company stock worth $3,753,177. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.