Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC Purchases 135 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,256 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the quarter. Wealth Advisors of Tampa Bay LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $1,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter worth $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter worth $32,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 313.2% in the 1st quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.82.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH stock opened at $224.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.19, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $222.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $211.55. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $238.46.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,273.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were 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 approximately $7,008,423.11. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at $833,273.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).