Cannell & Co. Buys 8,561 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Cannell & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 7.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 127,545 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,561 shares during the period. Cannell & Co. owned 0.14% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $29,261,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 3.9% during the first quarter. Ropes Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,503 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 6.8% in the first quarter. Montgomery Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,400,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 18.6% in the first quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,070 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the period. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 8.6% in the first quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 12,054 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,765,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 84.8% in the first quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,677 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 1,687 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE:LH traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $213.09. The stock had a trading volume of 156,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 727,435. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $220.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.12. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $166.93 and a one year high of $222.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13 and a beta of 1.07.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The medical research company reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.47 by ($0.05). Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 5.89%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.96 EPS. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 13.69 earnings per share 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, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 8th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 7th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 31.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $251.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 31st. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $275.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 28th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $235.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $247.41 to $231.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $50,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,825,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.77, for a total value of $325,155.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,449,540.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total value of $50,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,825,200. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,012 shares of company stock worth $1,308,748 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.65% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Profile

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics and Labcorp Drug Development.