2,701 Shares in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,701 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $604,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.5% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,156 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,491,000 after buying an additional 575 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,955 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,823,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 50,795 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $10,337,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 1,128.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,793 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth $342,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, Director Dwight Gary Gilliland sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.00, for a total value of $241,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,858,592. This represents a 11.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total transaction of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,522,814.27. This represents a 27.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,572 shares of company stock worth $5,910,209 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LH shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $275.00 price target (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI cut their target price 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. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.67.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $232.01 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $230.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.36. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.88, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.71%.

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.