New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 10,400 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 156,046 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 10,400 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.19% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $34,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 924,881 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in 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 worth $396,771,000 after purchasing an additional 395,197 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth about $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted 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 valued at $416,893,000 after purchasing an additional 263,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $45,567,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,423.11. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,273.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,423.11. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,946,306. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

LH stock opened at $227.10 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $222.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.22. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $239.50. 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 $18.99 billion, a PE ratio of 43.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.05.

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 company 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is presently 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.