Citigroup Inc. Sells 8,049 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Citigroup Inc. cut its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 98,325 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 8,049 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.12% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $21,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% during the second 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 purchasing an additional 924,881 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $396,771,000 after purchasing an additional 395,197 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth about $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $416,893,000 after purchasing an additional 263,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 26.8% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 928,250 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $188,908,000 after purchasing an additional 196,119 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on LH. UBS Group upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $255.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,861 shares of company stock valued at $2,853,533. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 1.4 %

LH traded up $3.45 on Wednesday, hitting $242.18. The company had a trading volume of 444,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 670,314. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $247.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $217.78. 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 capitalization of $20.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 in the prior year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. 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.