Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02, RTT News reports. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.38 earnings per share. Laboratory Co. of America updated its FY 2024 guidance to 14.300-14.700 EPS.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH traded up $17.35 during trading on Thursday, hitting $237.25. 497,605 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 662,815. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $20.00 billion, a PE ratio of 47.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.14. Laboratory Co. of America has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $238.46.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is 57.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at $833,273.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,273.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value of $3,359,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,423.11. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306 in the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $235.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $249.00 to $234.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $251.85.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Labcorp Holdings Inc provides laboratory services. It operates through two segments, Diagnostics Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Services. The company offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid, PAP, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.