Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Price Target Raised to $282.00

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its target price upped by Robert W. Baird from $278.00 to $282.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LH. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $251.27.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:LH opened at $222.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $18.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. Laboratory Co. of America has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $238.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.50.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.16. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.67 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 435 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 323,628 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $73,557,000 after purchasing an additional 10,443 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth $318,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 350,572 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $79,682,000 after purchasing an additional 5,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 23,179 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,269,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

About Laboratory Co. of America

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).