Barclays Cuts Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Price Target to $240.00

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its price objective cut by Barclays from $260.00 to $240.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on LH. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $276.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Citigroup upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.77.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $221.46 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $240.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.81. Laboratory Co. of America has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $258.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 32.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Amy B. Summy sold 758 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.67, for a total transaction of $175,605.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,228,314.34. The trade was a 12.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.63, for a total value of $127,815.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,365,624.58. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,258 shares of company stock worth $3,518,177 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $239,811,000. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 150.9% in the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,595,957 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $365,985,000 after acquiring an additional 959,981 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 344.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,123,409 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $263,161,000 after purchasing an additional 870,903 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 37,334.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 809,702 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $188,450,000 after purchasing an additional 807,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $123,415,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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.