Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 13,939 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 26.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,404 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,939 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.08% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $15,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LH. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 344.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,123,409 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $263,161,000 after purchasing an additional 870,903 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $123,415,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after purchasing an additional 230,708 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,405,000 after purchasing an additional 167,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,779,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on LH shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Citigroup upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $268.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total transaction of $1,497,319.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 86,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,146,175.90. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 500 shares of the 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 directly owns 13,166 shares in the company, valued at $3,365,624.58. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,577,572. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $233.97 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $245.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.28. The company has a market cap of $19.58 billion, a PE ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 EPS 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%. On average, analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 32.65%.

Laboratory Co. of America Profile

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