Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 58 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,536 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $4,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LH. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter worth $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $258.62.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of LH opened at $226.97 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $231.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.14. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month 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 stock has a market cap of $18.98 billion, a PE ratio of 43.90, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is presently 55.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,672 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.91, for a total transaction of $877,277.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,031,613.38. This trade represents a 45.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,910,209. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.