Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $265.31.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LH shares. Barclays lowered 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total value of $239,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,670 shares in the company, valued at $639,251.40. This represents a 27.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total value of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,522,814.27. This trade represents a 27.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,504 shares of company stock worth $5,905,692 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 312.5% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 132 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 309.8% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH stock opened at $246.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $237.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.66. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $258.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.07. 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 (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, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.65%.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Labcorp Holdings, Inc engages in providing medical testing services. The company was founded on April 16, 2024 and is headquartered in Burlington, NC.