Cypress Capital Group Purchases New Shares in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Cypress Capital Group purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 973 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at $21,289,260.27. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $240.42 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $225.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $216.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $247.99. The stock has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.92.

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.