Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 719 shares during the period. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $5,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Insight Inv LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 3,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Athena Investment Management grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 1,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on LH. StockNews.com cut shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:LH opened at $239.67 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $226.12 and a 200 day moving average of $217.03. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $247.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.