Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Shares Sold by Townsquare Capital LLC

Townsquare Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,785 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 430 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thematics Asset Management boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 7.1% in the third quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 24,775 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter worth about $129,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth about $596,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after acquiring an additional 230,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,861 shares of company stock worth $2,853,533 in the last three months. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LH has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. HSBC raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $240.69 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $218.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.55, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced 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. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.71%.

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.