Empirical Finance LLC Increases Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,055 shares of the medical research company’s stock after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $683,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,012,000 after acquiring an additional 2,934 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $473,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 18.9% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 150,046 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $32,802,000 after buying an additional 23,860 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 13.8% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 187,286 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $40,259,000 after buying an additional 22,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 35.4% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,435 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,397,000 after buying an additional 8,218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE LH opened at $235.21 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $224.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.73. The stock has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm 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 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on LH shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.92.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the company’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 directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at $833,273.50. This represents a 35.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,189 shares of company stock worth $2,190,936 in the last 90 days. 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.