Nordea Investment Management AB Acquires 68,974 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,052,927 shares of the medical research company's stock after purchasing an additional 68,974 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 1.26% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $243,321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $396,771,000 after acquiring an additional 395,197 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake 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 during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $354,528,000 after purchasing an additional 230,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $431,405,000 after buying an additional 167,137 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on LH. Hsbc Global Res raised Laboratory Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of 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. Evercore ISI raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $260.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $262.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $260.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of LH traded up $5.59 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $235.51. 658,880 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 562,220. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $247.99. The company has a market cap of $19.70 billion, a PE ratio of 45.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $234.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $224.18.

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 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 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 firm earned $3.38 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio is 55.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,522,814.27. This trade represents a 27.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,910,209 in the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.