Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Updates FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) issued an update on its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of 15.600-16.400 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 15.990. The company issued revenue guidance of $13.9 billion-$14.1 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $13.8 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $249.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Four research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.62.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock traded down $1.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $246.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 392,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 605,257. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $236.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.47. The firm has a market cap of $20.63 billion, a PE ratio of 47.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.07. Laboratory Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $258.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The medical research company reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.40 by $0.05. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. On average, analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.51 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total transaction of $239,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $639,251.40. This trade represents a 27.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,915,209. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.