Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 244 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,749 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 244 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $1,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LH. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 58.8% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,613,854 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $352,563,000 after acquiring an additional 597,571 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $396,771,000 after acquiring an additional 395,197 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth about $73,928,000. Finally, Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 32.5% during the fourth quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. now owns 1,140,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $259,133,000 after acquiring an additional 279,628 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. 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 research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.00.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $833,273.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 transaction of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at $833,273.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.1 %

LH opened at $219.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.06, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.06. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $238.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $224.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.85.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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).