Royal Bank of Canada Reduces Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 817,116 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 3,857 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 0.98% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $187,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 11.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 620,721 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $138,718,000 after acquiring an additional 65,356 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in 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 valued at $431,405,000 after purchasing an additional 167,137 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,943 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 22.7% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,525 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,496,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on 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. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $280.00 price objective (up previously from $260.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $274.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $270.62.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 829 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.26, for a total value of $200,833.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $497,602.04. This trade represents a 28.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 5,339 shares of the business'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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 4,960 shares in the company, valued at $1,236,180.80. The trade was a 51.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,971 shares of company stock valued at $4,193,073 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.84% of the company's stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 3.8%

Laboratory Co. of America stock traded down $9.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $241.26. 916,624 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 643,742. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $20.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.35, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $234.13 and a 200 day moving average of $237.95. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $258.59.

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, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.41 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.68 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 29th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Laboratory Co. of America's payout ratio is currently 33.29%.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Labcorp Holdings, Inc engages in providing medical testing services. The company was founded on April 16, 2024 and is headquartered in Burlington, NC.