Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) CFO Sells $3,359,850.00 in Stock

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,423.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE LH opened at $228.80 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $212.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $210.47. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $238.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $19.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion during 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%. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders 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 1.26%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.95%.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 27.0% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,226 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 25.3% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 494,068 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $100,609,000 after purchasing an additional 99,912 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% during the second quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,516 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 19.2% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,657 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,152,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the period. Finally, Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $299,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on LH shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $247.42.

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).