Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Acquires 490 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Everpar Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,319 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 22.7% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,525 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,496,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,943 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $904,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 target price (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Hsbc Global Res raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $260.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of LH opened at $238.44 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $234.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.91. The stock has a market cap of $19.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.06. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $247.99.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,156,060. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,572 shares of company stock worth $6,145,209. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.