Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Upgraded by Citigroup to “Buy” Rating

Citigroup upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $300.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $250.00.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on LH. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler upped 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.38.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $257.10 on Tuesday. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $258.59. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $242.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.52 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.07.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 5,339 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.23, for a total value of $1,330,638.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,236,180.80. This trade represents a 51.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,314 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.30, for a total transaction of $330,208.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $545,572.30. This trade represents a 37.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,449,757. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,929,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 156.9% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,513 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,851,000 after buying an additional 15,582 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 93.9% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,461 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $481,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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.