Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Given New $290.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its price objective boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from $275.00 to $290.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI raised Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.62.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $247.33 on Thursday. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $258.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $236.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.84, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.07.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.05. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. Sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.51 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total transaction of $239,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,251.40. This trade represents a 27.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,915,209 in the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after purchasing an additional 263,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the 3rd 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. increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% during the 3rd 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,779,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 22.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 577,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $128,990,000 after acquiring an additional 105,443 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.