Blue Trust Inc. Cuts Stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 35.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 579 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 322 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 354 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on LH shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total value of $1,497,319.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 86,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,146,175.90. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dwight Gary Gilliland sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total value of $241,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,592. This represents a 11.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 19,832 shares of company stock worth $4,788,995. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $249.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $238.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $231.55. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.05. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 5.73%. Equities analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 32.65%.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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