American National Bank & Trust Co. VA Takes $284,000 Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,298 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $291,045,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% in the 3rd 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 58.8% in 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 buying an additional 597,571 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 536.0% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 540,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $108,653,000 after buying an additional 455,462 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 424,684 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their price objective 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. Barclays lowered their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target 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. Argus raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.86.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $203.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.19 billion, a PE ratio of 41.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $234.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.49.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 2,439 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.33, for a total value of $498,360.87. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $426,436.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $426,436.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $51,032.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,260,364.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,939 shares of company stock worth $1,021,078 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is currently 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).