Paralel Advisors LLC Purchases 1,040 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Paralel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 10.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,489 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Paralel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LH. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 15,186 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,483,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,780 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,931,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 7,194 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LH shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of 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. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $270.38.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock traded down $2.62 during trading on Thursday, hitting $227.86. 10,743 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 630,739. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $241.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $234.80. The stock has a market cap of $19.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.99. 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 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 EPS 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, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amy B. Summy sold 758 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.67, for a total value of $175,605.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,302 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,228,314.34. The trade was a 12.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,314 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.30, for a total value of $330,208.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $545,572.30. The trade was a 37.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,258 shares of company stock valued at $3,518,177. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.