Bank of America Raises Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Price Target to $271.00

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its target price raised by research analysts at Bank of America from $262.00 to $271.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential upside of 16.81% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on LH. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $257.67.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH stock opened at $232.01 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $230.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total transaction of $239,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $639,251.40. This represents a 27.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total transaction of $2,815,675.73. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,522,814.27. This trade represents a 27.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,910,209. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

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.