Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Coverage Initiated at Redburn Atlantic

Equities researchers at Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $276.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Redburn Atlantic’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.64% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on LH. Evercore ISI upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $270.38.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of LH opened at $232.63 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $244.45 and a 200 day moving average of $234.86. The company has a market cap of $19.47 billion, a PE ratio of 26.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.05. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 15.29%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 16.01 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 5,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.23, for a total transaction of $1,330,638.97. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,236,180.80. This represents a 51.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total value of $1,497,319.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,146,175.90. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,258 shares of company stock worth $3,753,177. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at $239,811,000. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 150.9% during the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,595,957 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $365,985,000 after purchasing an additional 959,981 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 344.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,123,409 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $263,161,000 after buying an additional 870,903 shares during the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $123,415,000. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 59.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,021,104 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $234,160,000 after buying an additional 380,624 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% 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.