Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Upgraded at Hsbc Global Res

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Hsbc Global Res from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LH. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock 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 given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE:LH traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $227.60. 423,017 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 667,358. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $19.04 billion, a PE ratio of 44.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $222.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.98. Laboratory Co. of America has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $239.50.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. Laboratory Co. of America's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.53 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,423.11. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,679 shares of company stock worth $6,946,306 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $25,012,000 after acquiring an additional 2,934 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,019 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $22,069,000 after purchasing an additional 14,708 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 283.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,217 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $5,072,000 after buying an additional 17,156 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 141.3% in the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 29,580 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $6,462,000 after buying an additional 17,323 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $473,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.