Hahn Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Hahn Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 47.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,720 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,495 shares during the period. Laboratory Co. of America accounts for 3.9% of Hahn Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Hahn Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $8,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,726,627 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $832,827,000 after acquiring an additional 25,469 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,978,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $442,197,000 after acquiring an additional 29,046 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,964,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $437,561,000 after acquiring an additional 13,298 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $431,405,000 after acquiring an additional 167,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,916,505 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $437,357,000 after acquiring an additional 51,045 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of LH opened at $247.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.07. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $258.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $240.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $232.44.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 15.29%. As a group, analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $235,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,989,670. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,314 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.30, for a total transaction of $330,208.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $545,572.30. This trade represents a 37.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,372 shares of company stock valued at $5,175,793. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on LH shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America increased 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.75.

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.