Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Price Target Raised to $277.00 at Robert W. Baird

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its price target raised by analysts at Robert W. Baird from $261.00 to $277.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the medical research company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.37% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on LH. Barclays decreased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $246.85.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH opened at $236.00 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $205.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.46. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $238.46. The firm has a market cap of $19.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.49, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company posted $3.42 EPS. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.83, for a total transaction of $421,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,188,448.71. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Laboratory Co. of America

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 313.2% during the 1st quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 219 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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).