Cannell & Spears LLC Acquires 32,259 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Cannell & Spears LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 18.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 202,555 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,259 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $46,450,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 59.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,021,104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $234,160,000 after purchasing an additional 380,624 shares during the last quarter. St. James Investment Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. St. James Investment Company LLC now owns 2,056 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $471,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 275.3% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 48,475 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $11,116,000 after buying an additional 35,559 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 352,439 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $80,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1,506.3% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 257 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on 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 cut their target price on 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America upped their price objective 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. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $269.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH stock opened at $229.75 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $244.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the company’s 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 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 position. 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 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,365,624.58. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,577,572. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.