Bank of America Raises Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Price Target to $260.00

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its target price raised by Bank of America from $240.00 to $260.00 in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on LH. Truist Financial upped their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $249.15.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 2.9 %

NYSE LH opened at $219.36 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $210.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Laboratory Co. of America has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $238.46.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.42 EPS. Research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 29th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total transaction of $421,660.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,188,448.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total transaction of $421,660.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,188,448.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $2,770,506.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at $3,647,501.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Insight Inv LLC raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% during the second quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 3,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 2,567 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 14,992 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,407,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Athena Investment Management increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 1,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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 (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).