3,396 Shares in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Bought by Banco BTG Pactual S.A.

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 3,396 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,726,627 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,827,000 after purchasing an additional 25,469 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,964,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $437,561,000 after buying an additional 13,298 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $431,405,000 after buying an additional 167,137 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,916,505 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $437,357,000 after buying an additional 51,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,822,964 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $418,042,000 after acquiring an additional 41,898 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on LH shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group lowered 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 research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total value of $235,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at $2,989,670. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 5,339 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,236,180.80. This trade represents a 51.84 % 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 in the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE LH opened at $233.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.55 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $245.19 and a 200-day moving average of $234.49. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s 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.