Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Stock Rating Upgraded by Evercore ISI

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) was upgraded by stock analysts at Evercore ISI from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Finviz reports. The brokerage currently has a $265.00 target price on the medical research company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $260.00. Evercore ISI’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 15.42% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $260.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $229.59 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.41, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. Laboratory Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $247.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $223.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total value of $2,815,675.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,522,814.27. The trade was a 27.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,910,209. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 115.7% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 3,265 shares during the period. Alexander Randolph Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $955,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,316,000. Banyan Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 8.4% during the second quarter. Banyan Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,781 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $7,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 11.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 620,721 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $138,718,000 after acquiring an additional 65,356 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.