State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Has $5.83 Million Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 37.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,631 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 16,850 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $5,827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter worth $30,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 313.2% in the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.5 %

LH stock opened at $221.13 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $211.21. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $238.46.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. Analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.67 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial upped 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. StockNews.com upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.82.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 $3,647,501.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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).