Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Bought by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,630 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LH. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 312.5% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 132 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 309.8% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth about $42,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:LH opened at $253.00 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $243.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. 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 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 32.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at $2,989,670. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 5,339 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.23, for a total value of $1,330,638.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,236,180.80. This represents a 51.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,577,572 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on 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, twelve have issued 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 $268.38.

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.