Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on 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. 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 research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group raised 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $249.00 to $234.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $251.85.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.3 %

NYSE:LH opened at $215.77 on Thursday. Laboratory Co. of America has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $238.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.00. 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 company has a market cap of $18.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,423.11. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $131,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,312,450. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LH. Insight Inv LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% during the second quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 3,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Athena Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 1,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Unison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 11,053 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,415,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,973 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 5.1% in the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Labcorp Holdings Inc provides laboratory services. It operates through two segments, Diagnostics Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Services. The company offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid, PAP, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.