State Street Corp Boosts Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 0.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,726,627 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 25,469 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned 4.46% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $832,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 95.94% of the company's stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LH traded down $2.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $232.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 392,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 634,482. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $229.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.45 billion, a PE ratio of 44.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $3.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America's payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total transaction of $239,420.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $639,251.40. This represents a 27.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,910,209 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LH. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $255.92.

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.