Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LH. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Hsbc Global Res raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.77.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of LH opened at $246.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.07. Laboratory Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $258.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $236.56 and a 200 day moving average of $229.47.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.05. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.51 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.71%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,251.40. The trade was a 27.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,915,209. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LH. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 135,888 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $31,162,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 3,174 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 292,784 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $67,141,000 after acquiring an additional 8,687 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,544 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 12,240 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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.