Farther Finance Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 17.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,385 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LH. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter worth $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $242.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.27 billion, a PE ratio of 46.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $243.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $223.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $214.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly 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 predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,423.11. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,273.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,043,950 in the last ninety days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.92.

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.