South Dakota Investment Council Cuts Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,563 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 328 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $1,505,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,726,627 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,827,000 after purchasing an additional 25,469 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,978,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,197,000 after purchasing an additional 29,046 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,964,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $437,561,000 after buying an additional 13,298 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,405,000 after buying an additional 167,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,916,505 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $437,357,000 after buying an additional 51,045 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on LH. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.31.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total transaction of $1,497,319.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares in the company, valued at $21,146,175.90. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total value of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,522,814.27. This represents a 27.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 19,832 shares of company stock worth $4,788,995. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $249.86 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $238.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.82. The stock has a market cap of $20.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.07. 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 Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.65%.

Laboratory Co. of America Profile

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