Nordea Investment Management AB Buys 68,974 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,052,927 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 68,974 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $243,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,342 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 3,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Athena Investment Management boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 4.8% during the second quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 1,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.7% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 target price (up from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,156,060. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,910,209. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.2 %

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $229.59 on Tuesday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $247.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $234.15 and a 200 day moving average of $223.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $19.20 billion, a PE ratio of 44.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.