Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.72

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 10th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a dividend of 0.72 per share by the medical research company on Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%.

Laboratory Co. of America has a payout ratio of 16.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Laboratory Co. of America to earn $17.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.4%.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 5.0 %

LH stock opened at $218.87 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $240.55 and its 200 day moving average is $234.79. The stock has a market cap of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.99. 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 has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year 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 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.85.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.63, for a total value of $127,815.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,365,624.58. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy B. Summy sold 758 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.67, for a total value of $175,605.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,228,314.34. This trade represents a 12.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,258 shares of company stock worth $3,518,177 over the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,321 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $991,000. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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.