Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 2,339 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 188,543 shares of the medical research company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,339 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $42,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LH. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.5% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,978,686 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $442,197,000 after buying an additional 29,046 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $416,893,000 after purchasing an additional 263,105 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $327,616,000 after purchasing an additional 924,881 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $288,519,000 after purchasing an additional 33,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 26.8% during the second quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 928,250 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $188,908,000 after purchasing an additional 196,119 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 1.2 %

LH traded down $2.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $235.21. 2,051,433 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 674,322. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $224.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.63. 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 fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $247.99. The stock has a market cap of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.38 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at $833,273.50. This trade represents a 35.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. This represents a 6.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,190,936. Insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on LH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Hsbc Global Res raised Laboratory Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $255.92.

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.