Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc Lowers Stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc reduced its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,180 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,342 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.7% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.9% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,844 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.1% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,773 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE LH traded up $2.28 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $234.28. 127,583 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 490,997. The company has a market capitalization of $19.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $247.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $234.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $224.75.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.71%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $235,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,989,670. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,572 shares of company stock worth $6,145,209 over the last ninety days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four equities 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.54.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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