Cooke & Bieler LP Sells 93,837 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Cooke & Bieler LP lowered its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 848,261 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 93,837 shares during the quarter. Laboratory Co. of America comprises approximately 1.9% of Cooke & Bieler LP's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Cooke & Bieler LP owned approximately 1.01% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $194,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,342 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,025 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,840,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 15,186 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,483,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,780 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $2,931,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 7,194 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,650,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,121 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,146,175.90. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,500 shares of company stock worth $3,577,572. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on LH. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $293.00 to $286.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $271.00 to $260.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $268.38.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock traded down $4.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $235.18. 523,791 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 621,017. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $244.18 and a 200-day moving average of $233.91. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $258.59. The company has a market cap of $19.68 billion, a PE ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.05. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 5.73% and a return on equity of 15.29%. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.65%.

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.