California State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,897 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 8,383 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.17% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $32,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LH. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 309.8% in the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 168 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Human Investing LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LH. Citigroup upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $280.00 price objective (up from $260.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $276.00 target price for the company. Four investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $270.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 829 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.26, for a total transaction of $200,833.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,054 shares in the company, valued at $497,602.04. This trade represents a 28.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 500 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.63, for a total transaction of $127,815.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,166 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,365,624.58. This represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,092 shares of company stock worth $2,475,635. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:LH traded up $1.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $248.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,185,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 638,857. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $20.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.82. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $235.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $238.36. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The medical research company reported $3.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.41 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.68 earnings per share. On average, equities 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. Laboratory Co. of America's payout ratio is 33.29%.

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.