Quent Capital LLC Has $53,000 Stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 88.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 260 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $53,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LH. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 313.2% in the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 50.3% in the first quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 275 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 308 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH traded down $3.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $222.42. 348,316 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 721,842. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $238.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.37.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.19 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 29th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 57.95%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,647,501.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,647,501.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total transaction of $421,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,188,448.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.15.

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).