Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Sells 283 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC reduced its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,729 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 283 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,487,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $500,033,000 after acquiring an additional 424,684 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $446,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,755 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $444,821,000 after buying an additional 483,878 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $291,045,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,163,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $264,396,000 after acquiring an additional 33,493 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LH. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. 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 report on Monday, March 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $241.86.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 6,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total transaction of $1,407,387.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,094,272.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total value of $760,515.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 3,975 shares in the company, valued at $863,727.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 6,477 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total transaction of $1,407,387.33. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,094,272.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,916 shares of company stock worth $3,188,981 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH stock traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $203.52. The company had a trading volume of 241,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 744,266. The firm has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a PE ratio of 40.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $202.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.18. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $234.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.95%.

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).