Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Receives $255.92 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $255.92.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price 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. Piper Sandler increased their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:LH opened at $227.17 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $222.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $239.50.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.71%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $131,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,312,450. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $131,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,312,450. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value of $3,359,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 have sold a total of 18,586 shares of company stock worth $4,175,800 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of 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. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 395,197 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after purchasing an additional 263,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter valued at $45,567,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Company 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.