Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $260.54.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total transaction of $2,815,675.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,522,814.27. This represents a 27.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total transaction of $239,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $639,251.40. This trade represents a 27.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,572 shares of company stock worth $6,145,209. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LH. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 312.5% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 132 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 172.6% in the third quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 169 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.9 %

LH stock opened at $234.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.96. Laboratory Co. of America has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.52 EPS 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.71%.

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.