Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Buys Shares of 933 Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 933 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,012,000 after purchasing an additional 2,934 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,069,000 after acquiring an additional 14,708 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 283.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,072,000 after acquiring an additional 17,156 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $473,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 150,046 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,802,000 after purchasing an additional 23,860 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,156,060. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,156,060. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,043,950 over the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LH. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of 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. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH stock opened at $239.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.00 billion, a PE ratio of 46.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $222.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.85. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $240.39.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.71%.

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.