Independent Advisor Alliance Raises Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 25.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,544 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 521 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.8% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,735 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,846,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Curi RMB Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth approximately $367,000. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.7% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 4,432 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 8.2% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,307 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 115.7% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after buying an additional 3,265 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $268.38.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.8 %

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $239.80 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $20.07 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $244.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.06. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $258.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.40, for a total transaction of $56,590.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,544 shares in the company, valued at $1,137,817.60. This represents a 4.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 13,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,365,624.58. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,577,572 over the last quarter. Company 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.