Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Price Target Raised to $290.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its price target raised by Jefferies Financial Group from $275.00 to $290.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $249.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.62.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE LH opened at $247.33 on Thursday. Laboratory Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $258.59. The stock has a market cap of $20.69 billion, a PE ratio of 47.84, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $236.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.34.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced 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 return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. On average, equities analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,989,670. The trade was a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. This trade represents 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 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,915,209 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after purchasing an additional 263,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after purchasing an additional 230,708 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,405,000 after purchasing an additional 167,137 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,779,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in 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. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.