Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. lessened its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 14.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,220 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,342 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, 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 transaction of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,522,814.27. This trade represents a 27.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dwight Gary Gilliland sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total transaction of $241,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,592. This represents a 11.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group decreased 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. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.31.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE:LH opened at $249.86 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $238.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $231.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $20.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.07. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. 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 Dividend Announcement

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

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.