Clarius Group LLC Takes $214,000 Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Clarius Group LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 934 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LH. SouthState Corp bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 312.5% during the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 132 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 172.6% in the 3rd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 169 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $260.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE LH opened at $238.44 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $234.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.91. The firm has a market cap of $19.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.06. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $247.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders 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 1.21%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total transaction of $2,815,675.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,522,814.27. The trade was a 27.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,572 shares of company stock worth $6,145,209 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.