Boston Trust Walden Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 0.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,895 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $7,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,771,000 after purchasing an additional 395,197 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,893,000 after acquiring an additional 263,105 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,616,000 after acquiring an additional 924,881 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 33,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 26.8% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 928,250 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $188,908,000 after purchasing an additional 196,119 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at $3,647,501.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,946,306 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:LH opened at $228.63 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $222.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.41. 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 Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $239.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.05.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.38 earnings per share. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 54.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LH shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.54.

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.