Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $258.62.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective (up from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. HSBC raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dwight Gary Gilliland sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total transaction of $241,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,858,592. This represents a 11.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,910,209 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE LH opened at $231.06 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.69, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Laboratory Co. of America has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $247.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $222.27.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period last year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.71%.

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.