Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Sells 294 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,845 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 294 shares during the quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $1,799,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the third 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 last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after purchasing an additional 230,708 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,405,000 after purchasing an additional 167,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 95.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 282,964 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $57,527,000 after purchasing an additional 138,211 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $242.47 on Thursday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $247.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $234.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $226.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $20.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.90, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.06.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total value of $239,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,251.40. This represents a 27.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total transaction of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,522,814.27. This represents a 27.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,915,209 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.