Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $255.92.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LH. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the firm’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 value of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,679 shares of company stock worth $6,946,306. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. American Capital Advisory LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 193.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,226,000 after buying an additional 9,517 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 5.0% in the third quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 7,371 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth $209,000. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 37.8% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 284,097 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $63,490,000 after purchasing an additional 77,921 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter worth approximately $88,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $230.56 on Thursday. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $239.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $222.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.60, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.38 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.71%.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

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.