Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Hits New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $258.88 and last traded at $258.43, with a volume of 111012 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $255.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler restated 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. Citigroup upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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 report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $253.00 to $267.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.00.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $238.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $239.06. 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 market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 1.11%. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 829 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.26, for a total value of $200,833.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,054 shares in the company, valued at $497,602.04. This represents a 28.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy B. Summy sold 758 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.67, for a total value of $175,605.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,302 shares in the company, valued at $1,228,314.34. This trade represents a 12.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,592 shares of company stock valued at $2,841,820. 0.84% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,722,508 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,262,817,000 after buying an additional 71,464 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 39.1% during the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,220,056 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $516,696,000 after acquiring an additional 624,099 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,003,998 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $458,334,000 after acquiring an additional 39,255 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.1% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,957,319 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $455,370,000 after purchasing an additional 40,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,822,964 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $418,042,000 after purchasing an additional 41,898 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company's stock.

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.