Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $255.92.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,156,060. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LH. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.2 %

LH stock opened at $239.67 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $247.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.05 billion, a PE ratio of 46.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $226.12 and a 200 day moving average of $217.14.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.71%.

About Laboratory Co. of America

Labcorp Holdings Inc provides laboratory services. It operates through two segments, Diagnostics Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Services. The company offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid, PAP, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.