Earnest Partners LLC Has $72.40 Million Stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 26.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 331,390 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 68,347 shares during the quarter. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 0.39% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $72,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,163,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $264,396,000 after acquiring an additional 33,493 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $22,069,000 after purchasing an additional 14,708 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1,715.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 175,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $39,814,000 after buying an additional 165,528 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 283.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,072,000 after buying an additional 17,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the first quarter worth $1,418,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LH shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on 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. StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $258.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $241.29.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.1 %

LH stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $210.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 560,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 712,732. The company has a market cap of $17.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $234.09. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $203.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $210.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.20. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.82 EPS. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was 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 owns 15,972 shares in the company, valued at $3,260,364.36. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 approximately $1,188,448.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total value of $51,032.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,260,364.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,500 shares of company stock worth $522,718 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.85% 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).