Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) in a report issued on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $235.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target suggests a potential upside of 5.15% from the stock’s current price.

LH has been the topic of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.00.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.6 %

LH stock opened at $223.48 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $223.73 and its 200 day moving average is $211.73. Laboratory Co. of America has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $238.46. The stock has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.97, a PEG ratio of 1.74 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.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the 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 owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the firm’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 approximately $7,008,423.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% 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).