Independent Advisor Alliance Has $478,000 Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 27.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,105 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $478,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LH. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $446,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,755 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $444,821,000 after acquiring an additional 483,878 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 536.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 540,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $108,653,000 after acquiring an additional 455,462 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,487,106 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $500,033,000 after acquiring an additional 424,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,016,283 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $230,991,000 after acquiring an additional 209,308 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $205.30 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $207.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.39. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $174.20 and a 1-year high of $234.09. The company has a market cap of $17.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.31, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.02.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.12 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.82 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.87 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.95%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 3,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.74, for a total value of $770,077.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,655,243.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 2,439 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.33, for a total transaction of $498,360.87. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $426,436.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 3,553 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.74, for a total transaction of $770,077.22. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655,243.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,744 shares of company stock valued at $5,111,382 in the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LH. Argus upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 25th. TheStreet downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Friday, February 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.14.

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).