LRI Investments LLC Acquires 254 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 976.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 280 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the quarter. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $67,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,616,000 after purchasing an additional 924,881 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,771,000 after acquiring an additional 395,197 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,893,000 after acquiring an additional 263,105 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after purchasing an additional 230,708 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LH shares. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price target (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $256.75.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $234.52 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $229.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.57. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a PE ratio of 45.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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. Insiders sold a total of 24,572 shares of company stock worth $5,910,209 over the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.