Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $241.86.

LH has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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 note on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH opened at $204.90 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $202.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.88. Laboratory Co. of America has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $234.09.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during 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%. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.82 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.87 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.10, for a total transaction of $50,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,145,972.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.10, for a total transaction of $50,025.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,145,972.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 2,439 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.33, for a total transaction of $498,360.87. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,087 shares in the company, valued at $426,436.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 14,916 shares of company stock worth $3,188,981. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 2,567 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 14,992 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,407,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 11,053 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,973 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).