Claro Advisors LLC Makes New $3.60 Million Investment in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Claro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 16,128 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,604,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 22.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 9,538 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,132,000 after buying an additional 1,738 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.2% during the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 34,294 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $7,664,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter valued at $136,000. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 12.0% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 56,884 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $12,712,000 after buying an additional 6,089 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter valued at $1,117,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LH. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $278.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $251.85.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $2,770,506.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock traded down $0.67 on Friday, reaching $214.46. 35,127 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 657,160. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $238.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.31, a PEG ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $222.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.00.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.95%.

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.