Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Increases Stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 1,676.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,901 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 8,400 shares during the quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LH. FMR LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after purchasing an additional 230,708 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,405,000 after buying an additional 167,137 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 22.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 577,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $128,990,000 after purchasing an additional 105,443 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 284,097 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $63,490,000 after buying an additional 77,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,052,927 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,321,000 after buying an additional 68,974 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LH shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group decreased 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI raised Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total transaction of $1,497,319.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 86,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,146,175.90. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $235,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,989,670. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,832 shares of company stock valued at $4,788,995 in the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:LH opened at $249.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $20.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.07. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $258.59. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.42.

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%. As a group, sell-side 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.