Ballentine Partners LLC Invests $249,000 in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,112 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LH. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.4% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,622,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.3% during the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,823 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,709,000 after buying an additional 666 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% during the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $937,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 8.9% during the first quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,616 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMI Asset Management Corp lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% during the first quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp now owns 217,698 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $47,558,000 after buying an additional 6,340 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE LH opened at $228.09 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average is $222.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.75. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $239.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.12, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. Research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on 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 lifted their price objective on 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $253.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,647,501.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related 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 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 approximately $3,647,501.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,679 shares of company stock worth $6,946,306. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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.