Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 57,632 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Bridgewater Associates LP cut its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 27.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 149,878 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 57,632 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.18% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $33,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thematics Asset Management increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thematics Asset Management now owns 24,775 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $129,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter worth $596,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $354,528,000 after purchasing an additional 230,708 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at about $276,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LH shares. 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 report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $255.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Amy B. Summy sold 3,672 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.91, for a total value of $877,277.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,318 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,031,613.38. This trade represents a 45.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,861 shares of company stock valued at $2,853,533. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.3 %

LH stock traded up $3.09 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $241.82. The company had a trading volume of 230,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 669,297. The stock has a market cap of $20.23 billion, a PE ratio of 46.18, a PEG ratio of 1.99 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $226.67 and a 200-day moving average of $217.61.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) 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 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 business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.