Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Holdings Cut by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lowered its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 13.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,823 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 575 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,771,000 after buying an additional 395,197 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after buying an additional 263,105 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,616,000 after buying an additional 924,881 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,519,000 after purchasing an additional 33,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 928,250 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $188,908,000 after purchasing an additional 196,119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $227.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $222.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $239.50.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $131,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,312,450. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 30,679 shares of company stock worth $6,946,306 over the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on LH shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Profile

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.