Bridgewater Associates LP Has $8.36 Million Stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Bridgewater Associates LP lowered its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 75.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,452 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 113,426 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $8,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $239,811,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 344.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,123,409 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $263,161,000 after acquiring an additional 870,903 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $123,415,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 59.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,021,104 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $234,160,000 after purchasing an additional 380,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,405,000 after purchasing an additional 167,137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,146,175.90. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy B. Summy sold 758 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $231.67, for a total transaction of $175,605.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,228,314.34. The trade was a 12.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,258 shares of company stock worth $3,518,177 in the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $220.59 on Thursday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $258.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $238.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $234.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. 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. Evercore ISI raised Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 6th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.77.

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.