Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $235.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $253.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE LH opened at $228.63 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.39. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $239.50. The company has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. 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. Research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value of $3,359,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,423.11. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,647,501.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 30,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,946,306. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Oak Harvest Investment Services purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter worth $894,000. Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth $219,000. abrdn plc lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 76,999 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $17,142,000 after purchasing an additional 9,328 shares during the period. SFE Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 28,779 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $6,432,000 after purchasing an additional 5,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 20.6% during the third quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,923 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $442,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.