Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Receives $255.92 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $255.92.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LH shares. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE LH opened at $242.18 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $247.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $226.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,672 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.91, for a total value of $877,277.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,031,613.38. The trade was a 45.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,861 shares of company stock valued at $2,853,533. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.