Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Purchases Shares of 3,396 Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,396 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $775,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,384 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,152,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 3,787 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $868,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,682,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 63.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 62,546 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $14,343,000 after acquiring an additional 24,357 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,860,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 500 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.63, for a total value of $127,815.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,365,624.58. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.62, for a total value of $1,497,319.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,146,175.90. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 14,500 shares of company stock worth $3,577,572 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

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Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.8 %

LH traded down $1.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $229.75. 479,830 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 620,813. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $244.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $258.59.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.05. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 5.73%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 16.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Evercore ISI raised Laboratory Co. of America from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $269.92.

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.