Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,978,686 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,046 shares during the period. Laboratory Co. of America accounts for about 1.8% of Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned about 2.37% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $442,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew 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 valued at $327,616,000 after acquiring an additional 924,881 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $288,519,000 after acquiring an additional 33,497 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 928,250 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $188,908,000 after buying an additional 196,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 749,819 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $152,596,000 after purchasing an additional 14,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,273.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,043,950 in the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on LH. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE LH traded up $3.77 during trading on Monday, hitting $246.16. The company had a trading volume of 203,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 664,394. 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 market cap of $20.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.05. The company's fifty day moving average is $223.02 and its 200-day moving average is $214.39. 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 (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, 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 firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.38 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.71%.

Laboratory Co. of America 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.