ProShare Advisors LLC Purchases 1,342 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,672 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,342 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LH. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 114.5% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 6,850 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,656 shares during the period. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth $283,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth about $632,000. Meridiem Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,299,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 253,950 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $58,234,000 after buying an additional 30,325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $253.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $274.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $280.00 target price (up from $260.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.73, for a total transaction of $1,518,496.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,614,818.26. This trade represents a 5.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,314 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.30, for a total transaction of $330,208.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $545,572.30. This represents a 37.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,971 shares of company stock valued at $4,193,073 in the last ninety days. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE LH opened at $250.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $258.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.99 billion, a PE ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.82.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The medical research company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.11. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict 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, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.29%.

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.