Meridiem Capital Partners LP Acquires Shares of 31,831 Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Meridiem Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 31,831 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $7,299,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 620,721 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $138,718,000 after buying an additional 65,356 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,837 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,519,000 after buying an additional 4,468 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 96,596 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $21,587,000 after buying an additional 2,595 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $431,405,000 after buying an additional 167,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,275 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $4,531,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock traded up $3.33 on Friday, hitting $249.60. 560,711 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 641,882. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $191.97 and a one 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $233.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $237.64. The company has a market capitalization of $20.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.82.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The medical research company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.11. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 5.73%. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.68 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $274.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Citigroup upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $253.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $270.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,105 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.73, for a total value of $1,518,496.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,962 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,614,818.26. This represents a 5.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,314 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.30, for a total value of $330,208.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $545,572.30. This trade represents a 37.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,971 shares of company stock valued at $4,193,073. 0.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.