Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Short Interest Update

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,880,000 shares, a decrease of 19.7% from the May 31st total of 2,340,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 735,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on LH. Argus raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $244.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.86.

Insider Activity

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total transaction of $760,515.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 3,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $863,727.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total transaction of $421,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,188,448.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,500 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total value of $760,515.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 3,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $863,727.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,916 shares of company stock valued at $3,188,981 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 187,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $40,259,000 after purchasing an additional 22,759 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 127.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $799,000 after acquiring an additional 2,050 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 138.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,863 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,247,000 after acquiring an additional 8,638 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 8,850 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE:LH opened at $203.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Laboratory Co. of America has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $234.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $202.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.96.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 3.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.82 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

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).