Versant Capital Management Inc Has $47,000 Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 1,193.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 207 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $47,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 33,647 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,848,000 after buying an additional 2,736 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 4.8% in the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 56,283 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,454,000 after acquiring an additional 2,558 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 32.8% in the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 4,185 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth about $118,000. Finally, Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 4.3% during the second quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 85,998 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $17,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,563 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total value of $2,815,675.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,522,814.27. The trade was a 27.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock worth $5,910,209 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.2 %

LH stock opened at $229.59 on Tuesday. 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 Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $247.99. The company has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.41, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $234.15 and a 200-day moving average of $223.97.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released 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. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.38 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on LH shares. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. HSBC raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $258.62.

Laboratory Co. of America 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.