BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $28.33 Million Stock Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 33.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 126,777 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 65,035 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $28,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,342 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% in the second quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 3,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Athena Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 4.8% in the second quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 1,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.7% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE LH opened at $241.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $247.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business’s fifty day moving average is $227.70 and its 200 day moving average is $218.16.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 1.19%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. HSBC raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,156,060. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,672 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.91, for a total transaction of $877,277.52. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,031,613.38. This represents a 45.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,861 shares of company stock valued at $2,853,533 over the last 90 days. 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.