Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 241 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 1,506.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $59,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital City Trust Co. FL boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 15,553 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,567,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 11.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 620,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $138,718,000 after acquiring an additional 65,356 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,052,927 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,321,000 after acquiring an additional 68,974 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,314 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 2,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $545,572.30. The trade was a 37.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,146,175.90. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,577,572 over the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on LH. Evercore ISI raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Barclays dropped their price objective on 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. UBS Group reduced their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH stock opened at $229.75 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $19.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.69. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.65%.

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.