Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Buys 1,723 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,219 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,723 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $7,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after buying an additional 263,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 230,708 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 22.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 577,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $128,990,000 after purchasing an additional 105,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 37.8% in the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 284,097 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $63,490,000 after purchasing an additional 77,921 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.91, for a total value of $877,277.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,031,613.38. This trade represents a 45.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction 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 represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,915,209 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $261.77.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

LH stock opened at $248.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, 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 $250.56. The company has a market cap of $20.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $235.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.66.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.71%.

Laboratory Co. of America Profile

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