Swiss National Bank Increases Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 250,220 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.30% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $55,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Insight Inv LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 3,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Athena Investment Management boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 4.8% in the second quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 1,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LH shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $236.17 on Wednesday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $247.99. 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’s fifty day moving average is $224.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $216.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.68, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given 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 1.22%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 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.