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

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $241.86.

LH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of LH opened at $203.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.02, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $234.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $202.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 57.95%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total transaction of $421,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,188,448.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $51,032.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,972 shares in the company, valued at $3,260,364.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total transaction of $421,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,637 shares in the company, valued at $1,188,448.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,939 shares of company stock valued at $1,021,078. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth $291,045,000. Morgan Stanley increased 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 last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 58.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,613,854 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $352,563,000 after buying an additional 597,571 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $444,821,000 after buying an additional 483,878 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 536.0% during the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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).