First Horizon Advisors Inc. Has $620,000 Stock Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,773 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter worth about $27,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH stock opened at $240.42 on Friday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.50, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $225.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $216.66.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LH has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Five equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.92.

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.