Tempus Wealth Planning LLC Purchases 132 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Tempus Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 8.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 4th quarter worth about $291,045,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% during the third 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted 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 period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 536.0% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 540,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $108,653,000 after acquiring an additional 455,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 20.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,487,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $500,033,000 after purchasing an additional 424,684 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LH has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Barclays lowered their target price 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 note on Friday, April 26th. Argus upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced 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 report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.86.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH stock opened at $203.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.05. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $202.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.49. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $234.09.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $3.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.87 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid 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 is currently 57.95%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 2,439 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total value of $421,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,188,448.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 2,439 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $426,436.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,939 shares of company stock worth $1,021,078 in the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America 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).