Inspire Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 2,879 Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,879 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LH. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 313.2% in the 1st 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. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report 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 stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $249.00 to $234.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $251.85.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE LH opened at $215.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $222.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.00. The company has a market capitalization of $18.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $238.46.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.95%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at $3,647,501.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at $3,647,501.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,273.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

About Laboratory Co. of America

Labcorp Holdings Inc provides laboratory services. It operates through two segments, Diagnostics Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Services. The company offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid, PAP, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.