California Public Employees Retirement System Has $102.83 Million Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 452,431 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,979 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.53% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $102,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 102.6% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,219,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $446,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,123,755 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 644.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,280,884 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $257,522,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108,776 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 3,836.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 806,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $162,243,000 after purchasing an additional 786,477 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,212,497 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $444,821,000 after purchasing an additional 483,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 536.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 540,429 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $108,653,000 after purchasing an additional 455,462 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $222.00 target price for the company. TheStreet downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Monday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total transaction of $7,451,828.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,095,812.15. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total transaction of $7,451,828.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,095,812.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 227 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.45, for a total transaction of $49,588.15. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 3,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,998.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,305 shares of company stock worth $11,761,059. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE LH opened at $207.92 on Wednesday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $174.20 and a 1 year high of $234.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.49 billion, a PE ratio of 44.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $212.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $214.85.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.01. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 24th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.67%.

Laboratory Co. of America 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).