D.A. Davidson & CO. Purchases 1,422 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,422 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,342 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 354 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $2,989,670. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $21,146,175.90. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,832 shares of company stock valued at $4,788,995. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LH. Barclays lowered their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $265.31.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $249.86 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $238.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $231.55. 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 Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $258.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.07.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings results 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, analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.