KBC Group NV Has $21.19 Million Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

KBC Group NV cut its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,808 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,154 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $21,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on LH shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial raised their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.2 %

LH opened at $235.21 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $224.18 and its 200-day moving average is $215.41. The company has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.50, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $247.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.38 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is presently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,273.50. The trade was a 35.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,189 shares of company stock worth $2,190,936. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by 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.