Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 654 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,163 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 654 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $446,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,755 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 644.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,280,884 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $257,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,776 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 3,836.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 806,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $162,243,000 after purchasing an additional 786,477 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $444,821,000 after purchasing an additional 483,878 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 536.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 540,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $108,653,000 after purchasing an additional 455,462 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 259 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.06, for a total transaction of $57,513.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,695,872.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 259 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.06, for a total transaction of $57,513.54. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,695,872.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were 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 approximately $5,095,812.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,305 shares of company stock valued at $11,761,059. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH stock opened at $203.07 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $213.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $214.81. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12-month low of $174.20 and a 12-month high of $234.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.48, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 61.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Friday, February 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays initiated 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 price objective on the stock. TheStreet cut shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.50.

Laboratory Co. of America Profile

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).