Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Acquired by GHP Investment Advisors Inc.

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,117 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $7,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,012,000 after buying an additional 2,934 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake 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 valued at $22,069,000 after purchasing an additional 14,708 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position 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 valued at $5,072,000 after purchasing an additional 17,156 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 141.3% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 29,580 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,462,000 after acquiring an additional 17,323 shares during the period. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at $473,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LH. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,156,060. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,946,306 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH stock traded down $1.44 on Friday, hitting $228.63. The company had a trading volume of 819,212 shares, compared to its average volume of 668,948. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $222.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.39. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $239.50.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.55%.

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.