Laboratory Co. of America (LH) to Release Earnings on Thursday

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) is scheduled to announce its earnings results before the market opens on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $3.47 per share for the quarter. Laboratory Co. of America has set its FY24 guidance at $14.30-$15.40 EPS.Investors that wish to listen to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Laboratory Co. of America to post $15 EPS for the current fiscal year and $16 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:LH opened at $199.97 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.82, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.69. Laboratory Co. of America has a 12 month low of $174.20 and a 12 month high of $234.09.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 61.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on LH shares. Barclays began coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $222.00 price target for the company. SVB Leerink began coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Argus upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 25th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Friday, February 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 6,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total transaction of $1,407,387.33. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,036 shares in the company, valued at $1,094,272.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 6,477 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total value of $1,407,387.33. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,094,272.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total transaction of $7,451,828.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,095,812.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,305 shares of company stock worth $11,761,059. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,859,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,863,118,000 after purchasing an additional 106,063 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.4% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,843,051 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $421,878,000 after purchasing an additional 26,197 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 532.2% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,530,675 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $360,441,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288,574 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,317,815 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $310,319,000 after acquiring an additional 218,161 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $219,236,000. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

About Laboratory Co. of America

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).