APG Asset Management N.V. Acquires New Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 45,600 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,098,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at $239,811,000. Amundi raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 344.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,123,409 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $263,161,000 after acquiring an additional 870,903 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $123,415,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 59.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,021,104 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $234,160,000 after purchasing an additional 380,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $431,405,000 after purchasing an additional 167,137 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE LH opened at $218.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $234.79. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities research analysts predict 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.65%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total transaction of $1,497,319.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,146,175.90. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 5,339 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.23, for a total value of $1,330,638.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,236,180.80. This trade represents a 51.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,258 shares of company stock valued at $3,518,177 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.85.

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.