Amalgamated Bank Lowers Stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 2.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,139 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 420 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $3,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LH. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,616,000 after purchasing an additional 924,881 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 58.8% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,613,854 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $352,563,000 after acquiring an additional 597,571 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,771,000 after purchasing an additional 395,197 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. now owns 1,140,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $259,133,000 after purchasing an additional 279,628 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 2,750.2% in the 4th quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 270,483 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $61,478,000 after purchasing an additional 260,993 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,647,501.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. Insiders sold a total of 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306 in the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $222.22 on Monday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $238.46. The firm has a market cap of $18.73 billion, a PE ratio of 44.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $222.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $211.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LH shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $251.27.

Laboratory Co. of America 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).