Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Receives Buy Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group restated their buy rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $275.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $265.00.

LH has been the topic of a number of other reports. HSBC raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.75.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $234.52 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $229.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.57. Laboratory Co. of America has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $247.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a PE ratio of 45.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.38 EPS. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

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 1.23%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dwight Gary Gilliland sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total value of $241,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,592. This represents a 11.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,572 shares of company stock worth $5,910,209 in the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at $27,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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.