Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $250.82.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LH. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on 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, StockNews.com raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at $3,647,501.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at $3,647,501.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,273.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LH. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth about $302,000. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $263,000. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 5,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,358,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 86,311 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,567,000 after acquiring an additional 3,756 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $221.13 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Laboratory Co. of America has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $238.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 44.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $220.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.21.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.16. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 57.95%.

Laboratory Co. of America Company 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).