St. James Investment Company LLC Has $471,000 Stock Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

St. James Investment Company LLC increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 17.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,056 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Laboratory Co. of America makes up about 0.1% of St. James Investment Company LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. St. James Investment Company LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. SP Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 15,186 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,483,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,780 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,931,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 7,194 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 354 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on LH shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price 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, Citigroup upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.92.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,314 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $545,572.30. This represents a 37.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,989,670. This trade represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,500 shares of company stock worth $3,577,572. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $229.75 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $244.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $234.69. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $258.59. The company has a market cap of $19.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.