Brighton Jones LLC Takes Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,321 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $991,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after purchasing an additional 263,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after buying an additional 230,708 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 167,137 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 95.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 282,964 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $57,527,000 after acquiring an additional 138,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 577,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $128,990,000 after acquiring an additional 105,443 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $246.29 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $247.99. The company has a market capitalization of $20.60 billion, a PE ratio of 47.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $234.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.97. 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 (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is presently 55.71%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $235,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at $2,989,670. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock worth $5,915,209. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.54.

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.