Tredje AP fonden Has $2.72 Million Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Tredje AP fonden cut its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,348 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,716,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,771,000 after buying an additional 395,197 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 58.8% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,613,854 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $352,563,000 after buying an additional 597,571 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,616,000 after purchasing an additional 924,881 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,519,000 after purchasing an additional 33,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,163,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $264,396,000 after buying an additional 33,493 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $833,273.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,423.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,273.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.82.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE LH opened at $224.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.55. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $238.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a PE ratio of 45.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.67 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.95%.

Laboratory Co. of America Profile

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).