Leerink Partnrs Issues Pessimistic Forecast for LH Earnings

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) – Analysts at Leerink Partnrs dropped their FY2024 EPS estimates for Laboratory Co. of America in a report issued on Monday, January 6th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now forecasts that the medical research company will post earnings per share of $14.53 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $14.59. The consensus estimate for Laboratory Co. of America’s current full-year earnings is $14.52 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Laboratory Co. of America’s Q1 2025 earnings at $3.84 EPS.

Several other research firms have also commented on LH. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $234.18 on Wednesday. Laboratory Co. of America has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $247.99. The company has a market capitalization of $19.59 billion, a PE ratio of 45.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $234.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.25.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.38 EPS.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 6,282 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,441,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $243,321,000 after acquiring an additional 68,974 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 128.4% during the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,820 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 35.1% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,163 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1,193.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 207 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,672 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.91, for a total transaction of $877,277.52. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,031,613.38. This represents a 45.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at $21,289,260.27. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,572 shares of company stock valued at $6,145,209 in the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Labcorp Holdings Inc provides laboratory services. It operates through two segments, Diagnostics Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Services. The company offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid, PAP, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.