Captrust Financial Advisors Has $7.17 Million Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Captrust Financial Advisors cut its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 4.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 32,093 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 1,368 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $7,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $327,616,000 after acquiring an additional 924,881 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $396,771,000 after purchasing an additional 395,197 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after buying an additional 263,105 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after buying an additional 230,708 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,672 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $238.91, for a total value of $877,277.52. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 4,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,031,613.38. This represents a 45.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of Laboratory Co. of America 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,861 shares of company stock valued at $2,853,533 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on 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 raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.2 %

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $240.69 on Tuesday. 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 50-day moving average of $228.01 and a 200-day moving average of $218.44. The company has a market cap of $20.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $247.99.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

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.