Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Price Target Raised to $271.00

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its price target hoisted by Bank of America from $262.00 to $271.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays increased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.67.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH stock opened at $232.01 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $247.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $19.41 billion, a PE ratio of 44.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $220.56.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % 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. Also, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,672 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.91, for a total value of $877,277.52. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,031,613.38. This represents a 45.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,910,209. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LH. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,616,000 after acquiring an additional 924,881 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the 3rd 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. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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.