AQR Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 95.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 282,964 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 138,211 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $57,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LH. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in 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 valued at $396,771,000 after acquiring an additional 395,197 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 597,571 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,519,000 after purchasing an additional 33,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,163,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $264,396,000 after purchasing an additional 33,493 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,423.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of LH opened at $222.08 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $223.34 and its 200 day moving average is $211.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $238.46. The company has a market capitalization of $18.72 billion, a PE ratio of 44.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.06.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on LH shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.50.

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).