Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. Takes $27,000 Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 135 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 114,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $25,012,000 after acquiring an additional 2,934 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,163,252 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $264,396,000 after buying an additional 33,493 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,069,000 after buying an additional 14,708 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1,715.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 175,176 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $39,814,000 after buying an additional 165,528 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 283.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,217 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $5,072,000 after acquiring an additional 17,156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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, August 20th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Four equities research 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.42.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of LH stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $229.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 486,106 shares, compared to its average volume of 694,919. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $238.46. The stock has a market cap of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $216.51 and a 200-day moving average of $210.90.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. Laboratory Co. of America’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 29th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 (DPR) is 57.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,273.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total transaction of $2,770,506.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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).