Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Lowers Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 575,319 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,870 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $131,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $191,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,003,998 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $458,334,000 after purchasing an additional 39,255 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 301.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 39,171 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,983,000 after purchasing an additional 29,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.38.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE:LH opened at $222.49 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $243.63 and its 200 day moving average is $234.84. The firm has a market cap of $18.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $258.59.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 32.65%.

Insider Activity

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 500 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.63, for a total transaction of $127,815.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,365,624.58. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy B. Summy sold 758 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.67, for a total transaction of $175,605.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,228,314.34. The trade was a 12.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,258 shares of company stock worth $3,753,177 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.