Choate Investment Advisors Grows Stock Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Choate Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,341 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 98 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LH. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake 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 worth $30,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 309.8% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Human Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 3,660.0% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LH. Citigroup upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.38.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:LH opened at $240.43 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $258.59. The company’s fifty day moving average is $244.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $234.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total transaction of $1,497,319.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 86,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,146,175.90. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $235,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,989,670. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,577,572. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Labcorp Holdings, Inc engages in providing medical testing services. The company was founded on April 16, 2024 and is headquartered in Burlington, NC.