Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV Trims Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV lowered its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,353 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LH. State Street Corp raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,726,627 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,827,000 after purchasing an additional 25,469 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,978,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,197,000 after purchasing an additional 29,046 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,964,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $437,561,000 after purchasing an additional 13,298 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,893,000 after buying an additional 263,105 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

LH opened at $246.18 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $236.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.69. The stock has a market cap of $20.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.07. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $258.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 15.96 EPS 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. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 32.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $235,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,989,670. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,915,209. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Three equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $263.77.

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.