Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Stake Boosted by Simplicity Solutions LLC

Simplicity Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 64 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.45, for a total transaction of $49,588.15. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 3,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,998.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.45, for a total transaction of $49,588.15. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 3,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,998.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total transaction of $7,451,828.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,595 shares in the company, valued at $5,095,812.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,305 shares of company stock valued at $11,761,059. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE LH opened at $199.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.71, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $214.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.58. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $174.20 and a twelve month high of $234.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.29 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is 61.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on LH shares. SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Argus raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $222.00 target price for the company. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.50.

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).