Argent Trust Co Has $953,000 Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Argent Trust Co trimmed its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,682 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LH. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,771,000 after acquiring an additional 395,197 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased 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 worth $352,563,000 after purchasing an additional 597,571 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,616,000 after purchasing an additional 924,881 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,519,000 after purchasing an additional 33,497 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,163,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $264,396,000 after buying an additional 33,493 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,273.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306 over the last ninety days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE:LH opened at $224.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a PE ratio of 45.19, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.55.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.95%.

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).