Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Given New $275.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its target price boosted by Truist Financial from $255.00 to $275.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the medical research company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on LH. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $213.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $258.00 to $261.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $249.15.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE LH traded down $6.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $229.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 475,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 721,641. The stock has a market cap of $19.36 billion, a PE ratio of 46.14, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $238.46. The company’s 50-day moving average is $205.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.37. 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 released 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. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.19 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.42 EPS. Analysts forecast that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 directly owns 5,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,188,448.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 58.8% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,613,854 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $352,563,000 after acquiring an additional 597,571 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% during the second 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 acquiring an additional 924,881 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth $291,045,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,163,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $264,396,000 after buying an additional 33,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. increased its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. Veritas Investment Partners UK Ltd. now owns 1,140,300 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $259,133,000 after buying an additional 279,628 shares during 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).