Brokerages Set Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Target Price at $255.92

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $255.92.

Several equities research analysts have commented on LH shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on 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. HSBC raised Laboratory Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total transaction of $239,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $639,251.40. The trade was a 27.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,189 shares of company stock worth $1,976,256. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $327,616,000 after acquiring an additional 924,881 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $396,771,000 after purchasing an additional 395,197 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at about $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $416,893,000 after buying an additional 263,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $354,528,000 after buying an additional 230,708 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company's stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of LH stock traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $241.24. The company had a trading volume of 981,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 671,594. Laboratory Co. of America has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $247.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $20.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average of $226.12 and a 200 day moving average of $217.14.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The company's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.53 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.