QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 29,721 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

QRG Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 62.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,591 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 29,721 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $3,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% in 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 buying an additional 924,881 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% in the 2nd 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 buying an additional 395,197 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter valued at $45,567,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on LH. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. UBS Group increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on 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. Robert W. Baird raised their target price 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $255.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $833,273.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value 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 $7,008,423.11. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,000 shares of company stock worth $4,043,950 in the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH stock traded up $4.72 on Thursday, hitting $239.10. 718,137 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 665,647. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $20.00 billion, a PE ratio of 46.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 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 $240.39. The firm's 50 day moving average is $222.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.85.

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 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.