Principal Securities Inc. Acquires 421 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,324 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $1,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. SouthState Corp bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 312.5% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 132 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 309.8% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, Director Dwight Gary Gilliland sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total transaction of $241,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,858,592. This represents a 11.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 $21,146,175.90. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 23,504 shares of company stock worth $5,666,272 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on LH. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.31.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $247.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.31. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $258.59. The firm has a market cap of $20.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.07.

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 net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 15.29%. As a group, research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given 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 yield of 1.16%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.65%.

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.