Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,582 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 2,014 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $21,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LH. FMR LLC increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $354,528,000 after buying an additional 230,708 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 buying an additional 167,137 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 22.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 577,189 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $128,990,000 after purchasing an additional 105,443 shares in the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 37.8% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 284,097 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $63,490,000 after purchasing an additional 77,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,052,927 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $243,321,000 after purchasing an additional 68,974 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Three research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,989,670. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total transaction of $1,497,319.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,146,175.90. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 19,832 shares of company stock valued at $4,788,995. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $249.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $20.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.07. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $258.59. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $238.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.82.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.65%.

Laboratory Co. of America Profile

Labcorp Holdings, Inc engages in providing medical testing services. The company was founded on April 16, 2024 and is headquartered in Burlington, NC.