Laboratory Co. of America’s (LH) Buy Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group reissued their buy rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $275.00 price objective on the medical research company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $265.00.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on LH. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. HSBC raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on 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, StockNews.com downgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.75.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $231.84 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $230.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $219.89. Laboratory Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $247.99. The firm has a market cap of $19.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total transaction of $2,815,675.73. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,522,814.27. The trade was a 27.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value of $230,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. This trade represents a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,910,209. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,616,000 after purchasing an additional 924,881 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,771,000 after buying an additional 395,197 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter valued at $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after acquiring an additional 263,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $354,528,000 after acquiring an additional 230,708 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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.