Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 320 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 140,678 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the quarter. Laboratory Co. of America makes up approximately 1.5% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $32,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LH. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,726,627 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $832,827,000 after purchasing an additional 25,469 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,978,686 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,197,000 after acquiring an additional 29,046 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,964,743 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $437,561,000 after acquiring an additional 13,298 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 167,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $263.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total transaction of $239,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,251.40. The trade was a 27.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total value of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,522,814.27. This trade represents a 27.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,915,209. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:LH opened at $246.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.59 billion, a PE ratio of 27.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.69. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 EPS 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%. Research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 15.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.65%.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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