Prudent Man Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 6,291 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,406,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $25,012,000 after acquiring an additional 2,934 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at approximately $473,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 18.9% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 150,046 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,802,000 after purchasing an additional 23,860 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 13.8% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 187,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,259,000 after purchasing an additional 22,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 35.4% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,435 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,397,000 after buying an additional 8,218 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of 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. Barclays increased their target price 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. UBS Group upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $235.21 on Monday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $247.99. The firm has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.50, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $224.40 and a 200 day moving average of $215.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced 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. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.71%.

Laboratory Co. of America Company 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.