Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,119 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 749 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $3,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LH. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 115.7% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after buying an additional 3,265 shares in the last quarter. Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $955,000. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,316,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 620,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $138,718,000 after buying an additional 65,356 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on LH shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.31.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:LH opened at $249.15 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $258.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $238.23 and a 200 day moving average of $231.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share (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%. On average, research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.65%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Dwight Gary Gilliland sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total transaction of $241,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,592. This trade represents a 11.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total transaction of $1,497,319.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 86,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,146,175.90. This 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 19,832 shares of company stock valued at $4,788,995 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.