Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Raises Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,384 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amundi raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 344.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,123,409 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $263,161,000 after buying an additional 870,903 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at $123,415,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $431,405,000 after purchasing an additional 167,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth about $33,779,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the 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 owns 86,445 shares of the company’s stock, 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 the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.63, for a total value of $127,815.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,365,624.58. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,577,572. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. 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. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 note on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE LH opened at $233.55 on Wednesday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $258.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.55 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a PEG 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $245.19 and its 200 day moving average is $234.49.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.65%.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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