Bridges Investment Management Inc. Makes New $1.23 Million Investment in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,228,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 313.2% in the first quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $222.22 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $238.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $211.57. The company has a market cap of $18.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.71, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released 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 analyst estimates of $3.19 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on LH shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of 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 increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $251.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 586 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $131,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,312,450. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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).