Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) Receives $255.92 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $255.92.

LH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. HSBC raised Laboratory Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, 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 transaction of $230,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,156,060. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,156,060. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 586 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $131,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,312,450. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,946,306 in the last 90 days. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LH. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.0 %

LH traded down $2.29 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $228.27. 566,597 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 668,516. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. Laboratory Co. of America has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $239.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.15, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.05. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $222.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.98.

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. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.