Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Bought by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 17.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,204 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,048 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $4,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 172.6% during the third quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 169 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LH has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. HSBC upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,156,060. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 586 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $131,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,312,450. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,156,060. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 30,679 shares of company stock worth $6,946,306 over the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $228.27 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $239.50. The company has a market cap of $19.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.15, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.98.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted 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. The business 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%. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.71%.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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.