Piper Sandler Begins Coverage on Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH)

Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $235.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock.

LH has been the topic of several other reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Four research 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $253.00.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.4 %

LH opened at $216.00 on Tuesday. Laboratory Co. of America has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $238.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $224.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.92. The firm has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.16. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.61 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value of $3,359,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,423.11. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,012,000 after purchasing an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,163,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $264,396,000 after acquiring an additional 33,493 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,069,000 after acquiring an additional 14,708 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 283.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,072,000 after purchasing an additional 17,156 shares during the period. Finally, First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,418,000. 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).