Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Updates FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) updated its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 14.300-14.700 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 14.560. The company issued revenue guidance of $13.0 billion-$13.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $13.0 billion.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LH. UBS Group increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler started coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $235.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:LH traded down $1.56 on Friday, hitting $228.51. 513,311 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 667,471. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $19.19 billion, a PE ratio of 43.11, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $239.50.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,273.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,273.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 30,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,946,306. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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.