Private Advisor Group LLC Purchases 2,990 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 55.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,410 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 2,990 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $1,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Insight Inv LLC grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 3,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Athena Investment Management boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 4.8% during the second quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 1,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.8% during the first quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,973 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 5.1% during the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SP Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.4% during the second quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 15,096 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:LH opened at $228.09 on Wednesday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $239.50. The stock has a market cap of $19.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.12, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $222.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.75.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LH shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on 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. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.92.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of Laboratory Co. of America 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,679 shares of company stock worth $6,946,306. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.