392 Shares in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Acquired by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 392 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $88,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Insight Inv LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% during the second quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 3,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Athena Investment Management increased 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. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 5.1% in the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, SP Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 15,096 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $229.11 on Wednesday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $239.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a PE ratio of 44.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.71.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during 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%. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. Equities analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,273.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, 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 transaction of $454,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,273.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 18,586 shares of company stock worth $4,175,800. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LH. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $255.92.

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.