Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 1,900,181 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Wellington Management Group LLP reduced its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH - Free Report) by 85.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 326,983 shares of the medical research company's stock after selling 1,900,181 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.39% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $73,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 1,153 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.5% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,156 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $3,491,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter worth about $473,000. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 8.9% in the second quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the medical research company's stock worth $216,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 8,955 shares of the medical research company's stock valued at $1,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 13,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company's stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,910,209. Insiders own 0.85% of the company's stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of LH traded down $5.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $229.53. The company had a trading volume of 581,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 662,937. 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 capitalization of $19.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $229.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.82. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52 week low of $191.97 and a 52 week high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.38 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.52 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid 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 yield of 1.25%. Laboratory Co. of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LH shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $275.00 price target (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of 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, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $256.75.

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.