MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH Grows Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 5.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,840 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $1,082,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,771,000 after acquiring an additional 395,197 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 58.8% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,613,854 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $352,563,000 after purchasing an additional 597,571 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,616,000 after buying an additional 924,881 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,519,000 after buying an additional 33,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 26.8% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 928,250 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $188,908,000 after buying an additional 196,119 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group upped their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $235.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.00.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of LH opened at $216.85 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $223.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.96. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $238.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.28 billion, a PE ratio of 43.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.56 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,273.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306 in the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.