Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on LH. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $235.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.00.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of LH stock traded down $3.96 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $212.04. The company had a trading volume of 397,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 670,801. Laboratory Co. of America has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $238.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.95. The company has a market cap of $17.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued 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 the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,273.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at $833,273.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $2,770,506.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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).