Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Releases FY24 Earnings Guidance

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) updated its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $14.45-15.35 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.84. Laboratory Co. of America also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 14.450-15.350 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday. TheStreet cut shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Argus upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs restated an outperform rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $243.14.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.0 %

LH opened at $198.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $16.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.01. Laboratory Co. of America has a twelve month low of $174.20 and a twelve month high of $234.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $211.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $214.75.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.46 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.12 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.45, for a total transaction of $49,588.15. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 3,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,998.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total transaction of $760,515.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 3,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $863,727.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.45, for a total transaction of $49,588.15. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 3,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,998.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,305 shares of company stock worth $11,761,059. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).