Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Director Sells $51,032.50 in Stock

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total value of $51,032.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,260,364.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $201.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $210.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.88. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $174.20 and a 52-week high of $234.09.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.20. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 3.52%. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.82 EPS. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.87 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 28th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on LH. Argus raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.14.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,487,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $500,033,000 after purchasing an additional 424,684 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $446,189,000 after buying an additional 1,123,755 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 483,878 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 58.8% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,613,854 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $352,563,000 after acquiring an additional 597,571 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 644.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,280,884 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $257,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108,776 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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).