Councilmark Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 7,028 Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 7,028 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,000. Laboratory Co. of America comprises approximately 1.1% of Councilmark Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 4,159 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Trust Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 2,567 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $583,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. SP Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 14,992 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $3,407,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.5% in the first quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 11,053 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connecticut Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.8% in the first quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,973 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LH. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Argus upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.29.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock traded down $3.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $211.37. 585,940 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 514,880. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $234.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $203.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.08. 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 (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The medical research company reported $3.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 3.52%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total transaction of $421,660.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,188,448.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 250 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.13, for a total transaction of $51,032.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,260,364.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total value of $421,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,188,448.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,939 shares of company stock worth $1,021,078 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.85% 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).