Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Purchases 16,736 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 246,860 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,736 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.29% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $56,109,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Paralel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% during the third quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC now owns 8,345 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 38,765 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,794,000 after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 9,241 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter valued at about $2,123,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 47.8% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 382,293 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $76,860,000 after buying an additional 123,681 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on LH shares. Argus raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Leerink Partnrs restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.86.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 2.4 %

LH stock opened at $206.49 on Wednesday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $189.68 and a 1-year high of $234.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.57. 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 $17.41 billion, a PE ratio of 41.55, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 6,477 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total transaction of $1,407,387.33. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,094,272.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 6,477 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total value of $1,407,387.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 5,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,094,272.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 3,553 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.74, for a total transaction of $770,077.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655,243.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,469 shares of company stock valued at $3,959,058. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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).