Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Director Kerrii B. Anderson Sells 250 Shares

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total value of $51,032.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,260,364.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:LH traded down $1.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $200.25. 593,723 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 766,163. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.51, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $210.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.80. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $174.20 and a 52-week high of $234.09.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.52% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The business’s revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.82 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.87 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 28th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LH. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.6% during the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 50,511 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $11,035,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 1st quarter valued at $4,149,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 9,482 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,071,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 23.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 649,382 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $141,046,000 after buying an additional 124,277 shares during the period. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the first quarter valued at $124,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LH shares. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Friday, February 9th. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. TheStreet cut shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, Argus upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.14.

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).