Insider Selling: Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) CFO Sells 15,000 Shares of Stock

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value of $3,359,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,423.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE LH opened at $228.80 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $19.29 billion, a PE ratio of 46.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $238.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $212.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings 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 given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LH. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 27.0% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 494,068 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $100,609,000 after buying an additional 99,912 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% in the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,516 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 19.2% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,657 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,152,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares during the period. Finally, Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter worth $299,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on LH shares. Barclays increased their target price 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. UBS Group raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target 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. Truist Financial raised 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, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.42.

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).