Insider Selling: Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Director Sells 1,000 Shares of Stock

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE LH traded up $0.85 during trading on Friday, hitting $230.92. 189,298 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 665,905. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $239.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $19.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.57, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.55 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is presently 54.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,012,000 after purchasing an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,069,000 after acquiring an additional 14,708 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 283.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,072,000 after acquiring an additional 17,156 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 141.3% during the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 29,580 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,462,000 after acquiring an additional 17,323 shares during the period. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at about $473,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LH shares. StockNews.com raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $252.38.

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.