Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Receives $255.92 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $255.92.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $227.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Laboratory Co. of America has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $239.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.93, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $222.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.22.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.38 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.53 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,156,060. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,273.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,156,060. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 30,679 shares of company stock worth $6,946,306. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,012,000 after buying an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,069,000 after acquiring an additional 14,708 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 283.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,072,000 after acquiring an additional 17,156 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 141.3% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 29,580 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,462,000 after purchasing an additional 17,323 shares during the period. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth $473,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

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.