KCM Investment Advisors LLC Takes $7.37 Million Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 32,995 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,374,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insight Inv LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Athena Investment Management raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 4.8% in the second quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 1,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.7% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners raised 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, Pure Financial Advisors LLC raised its position 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. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,156,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at $833,273.50. The trade was a 35.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,190,936 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:LH traded down $3.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $234.22. 178,306 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 665,681. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $224.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.41. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LH. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler upped 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 report on Monday, October 28th. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.