Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. Purchases New Stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,118 shares of the medical research company's stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 22.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,943 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $904,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Grandview Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $427,000. Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,647 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $1,066,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth $203,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total transaction of $2,815,675.73. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,522,814.27. This represents a 27.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,572 shares of company stock valued at $6,145,209 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Laboratory Co. of America stock traded up $1.15 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $238.45. 630,680 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 576,408. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $234.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.26. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $247.99. The company has a market capitalization of $19.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.51 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on LH shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $275.00 target price (up from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America lifted 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $260.54.

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.