Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Raises Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,268 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $291,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of LH. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 86,026 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,232,000 after purchasing an additional 23,221 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1,962.5% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 990 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 12.0% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 56,884 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $12,712,000 after purchasing an additional 6,089 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.2% in the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 34,294 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,664,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 9,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $245.31 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.55. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $258.59. The company has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted 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 15.29% and a net margin of 5.73%. Analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 15.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 32.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays dropped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total value of $1,497,319.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares in the company, valued at $21,146,175.90. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $639,251.40. The trade was a 27.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,504 shares of company stock worth $5,905,692 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.