Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $235.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock.

LH has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. StockNews.com raised Laboratory Co. of America from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $253.00.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH stock opened at $215.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Laboratory Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $238.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $224.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.88. The firm has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.27, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.06.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.16. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 29th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,423.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,423.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 313.2% in the 1st quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Company 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 (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).