Caxton Associates LP Purchases Shares of 1,323 Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Caxton Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,323 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth $239,811,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $263,161,000 after purchasing an additional 870,903 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth $123,415,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 59.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,021,104 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $234,160,000 after purchasing an additional 380,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth $48,693,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,900 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.36, for a total value of $452,884.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $534,879.84. This represents a 45.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 226 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.40, for a total value of $56,590.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,544 shares in the company, valued at $1,137,817.60. This trade represents a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,866 shares of company stock valued at $2,674,576 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $276.00 price objective for the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $274.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $280.00 target price (up from $260.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $270.62.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH stock traded down $0.93 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $250.01. The company had a trading volume of 194,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 639,280. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $233.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $237.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. 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 market capitalization of $20.93 billion, a PE ratio of 28.35, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.82.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The medical research company reported $3.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.68 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 1.15%. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 33.29%.

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.