Insider Selling: Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Director Sells 250 Shares of Stock

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.10, for a total value of $50,025.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,145,972.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH opened at $201.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $210.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.70. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $174.20 and a one year high of $234.09.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 28th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LH shares. Truist Financial decreased 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 note on Friday, April 26th. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. SVB Leerink began coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LH. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 20.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 424,684 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $446,189,000 after buying an additional 1,123,755 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $444,821,000 after buying an additional 483,878 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 58.8% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,613,854 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $352,563,000 after buying an additional 597,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 644.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,280,884 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $257,522,000 after buying an additional 1,108,776 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).