Financial Counselors Inc. Grows Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Financial Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,511 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. owned 0.06% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $11,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LH. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 424,684 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% during the 3rd 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 period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 58.8% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,613,854 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $352,563,000 after buying an additional 597,571 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth $291,045,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,163,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $264,396,000 after buying an additional 33,493 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LH. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $258.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Argus raised 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. Barclays cut their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.29.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 2,439 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.33, for a total transaction of $498,360.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $426,436.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Peter J. Wilkinson sold 2,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.33, for a total value of $498,360.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $426,436.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total value of $421,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,188,448.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,939 shares of company stock valued at $1,021,078. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LH traded down $2.49 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $200.47. 267,588 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 729,874. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $234.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $16.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.11.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

Laboratory Co. of America Profile

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).