MQS Management LLC Takes Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,415 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $22,069,000 after acquiring an additional 14,708 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at $473,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 18.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 23,860 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 13.8% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on LH shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $246.22 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $223.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.03. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $247.99. 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 company has a market capitalization of $20.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.62, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at $21,289,260.27. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at $833,273.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,190,936. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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.