Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Stock Rating Upgraded by Hsbc Global Res

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) was upgraded by analysts at Hsbc Global Res from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on LH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial lifted 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, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of LH opened at $228.27 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.98. The company has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Laboratory Co. of America has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at $3,647,501.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,679 shares of company stock worth $6,946,306 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 96,596 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $21,587,000 after buying an additional 2,595 shares in the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 193.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 14,436 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,226,000 after purchasing an additional 9,517 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 7,371 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,647,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 37.8% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 284,097 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $63,490,000 after purchasing an additional 77,921 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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.