Erste Asset Management GmbH Invests $447,000 in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,012 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $447,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LH. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth $27,000. SouthState Corp bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on LH. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given 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 price target of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE LH opened at $237.35 on Thursday. 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 $19.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $228.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $218.78. 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 released 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. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total value of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,522,814.27. This trade represents a 27.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock worth $5,910,209. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.