Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. Sells 75 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,550 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% in the 2nd 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 during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,893,000 after acquiring an additional 263,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $354,528,000 after purchasing an additional 230,708 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,405,000 after purchasing an additional 167,137 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued 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 an average price target of $258.62.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total value of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,522,814.27. The trade was a 27.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock worth $5,910,209 over the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of LH stock traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $229.59. 615,254 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 489,448. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $247.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a PE ratio of 44.41, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $234.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $223.81.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.38 EPS. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings 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 paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 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.