Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Issues FY 2024 Earnings Guidance

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) issued an update on its FY 2024 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of 14.450-15.350 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of 14.820. The company issued revenue guidance of $12.7 billion-$12.9 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $12.8 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LH. Evercore ISI began coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Friday, February 9th. They set an in-line rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. TheStreet cut Laboratory Co. of America from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Barclays began coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an equal weight rating and a $222.00 target price for the company. SVB Leerink began coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued an outperform rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Argus raised Laboratory Co. of America from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $243.50.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $207.94 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $212.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.01. Laboratory Co. of America has a 12 month low of $174.20 and a 12 month high of $234.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 13.99% and a net margin of 3.24%. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is presently 61.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 259 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.06, for a total value of $57,513.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at $1,695,872.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 259 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.06, for a total value of $57,513.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at $1,695,872.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.45, for a total value of $49,588.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 3,859 shares in the company, valued at $842,998.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,305 shares of company stock worth $11,761,059 over the last ninety days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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).