Foresight Global Investors Inc. Takes Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Foresight Global Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 5,475 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,114,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $288,519,000 after purchasing an additional 33,497 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 14.9% in the second quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 380,117 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $77,358,000 after buying an additional 49,411 shares during the period. Garrison Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Garrison Asset Management LLC now owns 13,605 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $2,769,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,949,640 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $396,771,000 after buying an additional 395,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,265 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $2,496,000 after acquiring an additional 2,725 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE:LH opened at $225.76 on Tuesday. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month 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 stock has a market cap of $19.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.42, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $220.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.28.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.78 by $0.16. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 15.39%. 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 firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th were paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Laboratory Co. of America

In other news, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total transaction of $454,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $833,273.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $229.10, for a total value of $2,770,506.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares of the company’s stock, 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 worth $6,716,306 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on LH. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.82.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

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).