Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02, RTT News reports. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Laboratory Co. of America updated its FY 2024 guidance to 14.300-14.700 EPS.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE LH opened at $228.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.26. Laboratory Co. of America has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $239.50. The company has a market capitalization of $19.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.30, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 54.55%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,156,060. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,156,060. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $131,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,312,450. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,946,306 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Labcorp Holdings Inc provides laboratory services. It operates through two segments, Diagnostics Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Services. The company offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid, PAP, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.