Headlands Technologies LLC Invests $80,000 in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 351 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 237 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.45, for a total transaction of $53,668.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,729,398.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 237 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.45, for a total transaction of $53,668.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,729,398.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 227 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.45, for a total transaction of $49,588.15. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 3,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,998.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,305 shares of company stock valued at $11,761,059 in the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on LH shares. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Argus raised shares of 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 report on Monday, March 25th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Friday, February 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.14.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

LH opened at $201.37 on Wednesday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12-month low of $174.20 and a 12-month high of $234.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.94 billion, a PE ratio of 40.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $211.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $214.89.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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%.

Laboratory Co. of America Company 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).