UBS Group Boosts Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Price Target to $270.00

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its price target raised by UBS Group from $260.00 to $270.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

LH has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $249.15.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:LH traded down $7.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $228.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 935,141 shares, compared to its average volume of 724,723. Laboratory Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $238.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $205.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $210.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.14, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 29th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 57.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,637 shares in the company, valued at $1,188,448.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $291,045,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,616,000 after buying an additional 924,881 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 58.8% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 597,571 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. now owns 1,140,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $259,133,000 after acquiring an additional 279,628 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2,750.2% in the 4th quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 270,483 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $61,478,000 after purchasing an additional 260,993 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).