Laboratory Co. of America Holdings to Post Q2 2024 Earnings of $3.72 Per Share, Leerink Partnrs Forecasts (NYSE:LH)

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) – Research analysts at Leerink Partnrs lowered their Q2 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report released on Thursday, April 25th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now forecasts that the medical research company will post earnings per share of $3.72 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $3.82. Leerink Partnrs currently has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Laboratory Co. of America’s current full-year earnings is $14.84 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Laboratory Co. of America’s Q4 2024 earnings at $3.48 EPS.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.46 by $0.22. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on LH. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Friday, February 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. TheStreet downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. SVB Leerink began coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.14.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH stock opened at $198.40 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America has a 12 month low of $174.20 and a 12 month high of $234.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $211.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $214.66.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th 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 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.67%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.45, for a total value of $49,588.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 3,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,998.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total value of $7,451,828.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,095,812.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.45, for a total transaction of $49,588.15. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 3,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,998.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,305 shares of company stock valued at $11,761,059 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $291,045,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $446,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,755 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 644.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,280,884 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $257,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,776 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 3,836.8% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 806,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $162,243,000 after purchasing an additional 786,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $444,821,000 after purchasing an additional 483,878 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

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).