Sheets Smith Wealth Management Lowers Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management reduced its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,536 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 240 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LH. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,342 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.7% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 354 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake 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 buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,844 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total value of $239,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,670 shares in the company, valued at $639,251.40. This trade represents a 27.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,915,209. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $242.47 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $234.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.44. The stock has a market cap of $20.28 billion, a PE ratio of 46.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 target price (up from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.54.

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.