Kerrii B. Anderson Sells 1,000 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Stock

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $235,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,989,670. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $234.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $234.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on LH shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.54.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,771,000 after purchasing an additional 395,197 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,893,000 after buying an additional 263,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $354,528,000 after buying an additional 230,708 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,405,000 after acquiring an additional 167,137 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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.