Kerrii B. Anderson Sells 250 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) 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 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 sale, the director now directly owns 15,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,260,364.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE LH opened at $201.32 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $174.20 and a fifty-two week high of $234.09. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $210.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.70. 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 PE ratio of 40.51, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.02.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.82 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors 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 is Tuesday, May 28th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is 57.95%.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 20.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,123,755 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 483,878 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $352,563,000 after acquiring an additional 597,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,108,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LH. Argus raised 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. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet cut shares of 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 report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Four research 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, Laboratory Co. of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.14.

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).