Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 73,944 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 749,268 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 73,944 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.90% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $167,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LH. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at $277,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter valued at about $2,316,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.3% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 291,923 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $65,239,000 after acquiring an additional 42,999 shares during the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.8% during the third quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 13,150 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $2,939,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the third quarter worth about $7,374,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on LH. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. 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 note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Five equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:LH opened at $235.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $215.73. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $247.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.50, a PEG ratio of 1.93 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors 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 1.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at $833,273.50. The trade was a 35.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $21,289,260.27. This trade represents a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,189 shares of company stock worth $2,190,936 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

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.

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