Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Upgraded at Evercore ISI

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) was upgraded by research analysts at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $265.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $260.00. Evercore ISI’s price target points to a potential upside of 13.16% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on LH. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. HSBC raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $260.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $234.18 on Tuesday. Laboratory Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $247.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.30, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $234.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $224.25.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.38 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.00, for a total transaction of $235,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,989,670. This represents a 7.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,572 shares of company stock valued at $6,145,209. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Riverview Trust Co raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 172.6% during the third quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 169 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.