Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Receives $250.82 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $250.82.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LH shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.5 %

LH opened at $221.13 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.88. Laboratory Co. of America has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $238.46. The company has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.49, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.21.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of Laboratory Co. of America 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 directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $131,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,312,450. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LH. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 313.2% during the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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).