Leerink Partnrs Has Negative Outlook of LH FY2024 Earnings

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) – Equities researchers at Leerink Partnrs decreased their FY2024 earnings estimates for Laboratory Co. of America in a report released on Monday, January 6th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now expects that the medical research company will earn $14.53 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $14.59. The consensus estimate for Laboratory Co. of America’s current full-year earnings is $14.52 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Laboratory Co. of America’s Q1 2025 earnings at $3.84 EPS.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LH. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of 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. Evercore ISI raised Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price target (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $234.18 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $234.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $224.32. The company has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.30, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. Laboratory Co. of America has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.71%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % 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, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.91, for a total transaction of $877,277.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,031,613.38. This trade represents a 45.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,572 shares of company stock valued at $6,145,209. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 115.7% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 3,265 shares during the last quarter. Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at $955,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth about $2,316,000. Banyan Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Banyan Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 620,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $138,718,000 after purchasing an additional 65,356 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Labcorp Holdings Inc provides laboratory services. It operates through two segments, Diagnostics Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Services. The company offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid, PAP, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.