Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Bought by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 295.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,483 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,603 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in LH. Capital City Trust Co. FL increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 15,553 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,567,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 23.9% in 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 during the period. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 11.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 620,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $138,718,000 after buying an additional 65,356 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,052,927 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $243,321,000 after acquiring an additional 68,974 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 13,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,365,624.58. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,314 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,572.30. The trade was a 37.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,258 shares of company stock valued at $3,518,177 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LH. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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 research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $276.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.77.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of LH stock opened at $227.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $239.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $234.95. 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 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.65%.

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.