River Road Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 21.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 109,801 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 29,680 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Laboratory Co. of America worth $24,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter worth $29,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter valued at $37,000. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LH. Barclays began coverage on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $222.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Monday, February 26th. TheStreet cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on Laboratory Co. of America in a research report on Friday, February 9th. They set an “in-line” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus raised Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.50.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $199.97 on Thursday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $174.20 and a one year high of $234.09. The company has a market capitalization of $16.82 billion, a PE ratio of 42.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $214.69.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The medical research company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.29 by $0.01. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.24% and a return on equity of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $4.14 EPS. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue was down 17.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 24th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.67%.

Insider Transactions at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total transaction of $7,451,828.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,095,812.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, COO Mark S. Schroeder sold 6,477 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.29, for a total value of $1,407,387.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 5,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,094,272.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 34,504 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total transaction of $7,451,828.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,095,812.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,305 shares of company stock valued at $11,761,059 in the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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 (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).