Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Acquired by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 81,694 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,810 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $18,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LH. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LH shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.92.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % 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, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,189 shares of company stock worth $1,976,256 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $241.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.18 billion, a PE ratio of 46.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $226.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $247.99.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.71%.

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.