Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Position Increased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,240 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 879 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LH. Capital City Trust Co. FL boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 15,553 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,567,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 115.7% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after buying an additional 3,265 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter valued at $2,316,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 51.2% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total value of $1,497,319.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 86,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,146,175.90. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,314 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.30, for a total value of $330,208.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,171 shares in the company, valued at $545,572.30. This represents a 37.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,577,572 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on LH. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.38.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.6 %

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $235.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $258.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $244.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.94. The firm has a market cap of $19.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12.

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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.