Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) CMO Sells $877,277.52 in Stock

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,672 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.91, for a total transaction of $877,277.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,318 shares in the company, valued at $1,031,613.38. This represents a 45.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.0 %

LH traded down $2.49 on Tuesday, hitting $238.08. The company had a trading volume of 205,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 669,373. The firm has a market cap of $19.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.66, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $247.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $226.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,012,000 after buying an additional 2,934 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth about $473,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 115.7% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after buying an additional 3,265 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 13.8% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 187,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,259,000 after buying an additional 22,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 35.4% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,435 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,397,000 after buying an additional 8,218 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LH shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on 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 given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Company 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.