SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 57,553 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 183.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,988 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,553 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $19,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% in the second 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 buying an additional 395,197 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,616,000 after buying an additional 924,881 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,519,000 after buying an additional 33,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $235.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at $833,273.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,273.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE LH traded up $0.93 during trading on Friday, hitting $216.00. 308,627 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 672,224. The business’s fifty day moving average is $224.38 and its 200 day moving average is $211.92. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $238.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. 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).