Laboratory Co. of America's (LH) Buy Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $275.00 target price on the medical research company's stock, up from their previous target price of $265.00. Jefferies Financial Group's price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.26% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on LH. StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. HSBC raised Laboratory Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler increased 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 research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Five research 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. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $256.75.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:LH traded down $1.48 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $234.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 657,261 shares, compared to its average volume of 663,278. Laboratory Co. of America has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $247.99. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $229.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.57. 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 stock has a market cap of $19.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last released its 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 net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.38 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total value of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,522,814.27. This trade represents a 27.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,156,060. This represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock worth $5,910,209. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,342 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Insight Inv LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 3,530 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Athena Investment Management grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 1,040 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 3,055 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 43.3% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 172 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company's stock.

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.