Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Grows Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 733 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 312.5% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 132 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 309.8% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3,660.0% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE:LH opened at $239.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a fifty day moving average of $244.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $234.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.07 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 32.65%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 5,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.23, for a total transaction 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 represents a 51.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.63, for a total transaction of $127,815.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,365,624.58. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,577,572 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Piper Sandler upped their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.38.

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.