Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,937 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 2,598 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $6,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,726,627 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $832,827,000 after buying an additional 25,469 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,978,686 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $442,197,000 after buying an additional 29,046 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,964,743 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $437,561,000 after buying an additional 13,298 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 167,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,916,505 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $437,357,000 after acquiring an additional 51,045 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $265.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,314 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.30, for a total value of $330,208.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,171 shares in the company, valued at $545,572.30. This represents a 37.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total transaction of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,522,814.27. This represents a 27.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 21,372 shares of company stock worth $5,175,793. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of LH traded up $3.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $251.45. 553,356 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 579,873. The company has a market cap of $21.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.07. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $258.59. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $241.20 and its 200-day moving average is $232.70.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. On average, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid 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 1.15%. Laboratory Co. of America's payout ratio 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.