Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Acquired by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,169 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $3,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SP Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 15,186 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,483,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,605 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,515,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at $33,779,000. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 24,388 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,593,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 124.5% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,296 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $985,000 after acquiring an additional 2,382 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $253.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $21.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $258.59. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $243.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.72.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share 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, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.65%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total value of $1,497,319.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares in the company, valued at $21,146,175.90. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 226 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.40, for a total value of $56,590.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,137,817.60. The trade was a 4.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,577,572 over the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.38.

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.