Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Makes New Investment in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 2,058 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $240.42 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a PE ratio of 46.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12 month low of $191.97 and a 12 month high of $247.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $225.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.66.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.38 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given 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 1.20%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.71%.

Insider Activity

In other Laboratory Co. of America 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 value of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.