Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Sells 85 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,151 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 85 shares during the quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of LH. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth about $302,000. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $263,000. Westpac Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 5,975 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 86,311 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,567,000 after buying an additional 3,756 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $833,273.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at $833,273.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of Laboratory Co. of America 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,647,501.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,716,306 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH stock opened at $220.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.33, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.06. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $238.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $219.57 and its 200 day moving average is $211.12.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 29th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 29th. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 57.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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 report on Thursday, May 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.82.

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).