Truist Financial Cuts Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Price Target to $274.00

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its target price cut by Truist Financial from $285.00 to $274.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. 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. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $276.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $268.77.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $221.46 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $258.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $240.04 and a 200 day moving average of $234.91. The stock has a market cap of $18.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.99.

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, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 32.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total transaction of $1,497,319.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,146,175.90. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,330,638.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,236,180.80. The trade was a 51.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,258 shares of company stock valued at $3,518,177 in the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,811,000. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 150.9% during the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,595,957 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $365,985,000 after purchasing an additional 959,981 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 344.9% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 37,334.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 809,702 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $188,450,000 after buying an additional 807,539 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth $123,415,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.