Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Sells 3,582 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp decreased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 20.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,968 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 3,582 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 313.2% in the 1st quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:LH opened at $221.13 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 44.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $238.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $220.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.21.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.67 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,273.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,273.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,423.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LH has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.82.

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).