Ieq Capital LLC Has $3.57 Million Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,543 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 456 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $3,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $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 worth $48,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,647,501.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at $3,647,501.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 586 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $131,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 14,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,312,450. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LH. Barclays upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. 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 for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $251.27.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.1 %

LH stock opened at $222.22 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $222.74 and a 200-day moving average of $211.54. The company has a market cap of $18.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.71, a PEG 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 quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.67 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

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).