Lathrop Investment Management Corp Has $15 Million Holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Lathrop Investment Management Corp increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 67,132 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,033 shares during the period. Laboratory Co. of America comprises 2.8% of Lathrop Investment Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Lathrop Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $15,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. SouthState Corp bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,156,060. The trade was a 6.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total transaction of $1,506,835.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares in the company, valued at $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LH shares. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $255.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $240.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $247.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $225.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.66. The stock has a market cap of $20.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. Laboratory Co. of America had a net margin of 3.43% and a return on equity of 15.27%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.38 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.71%.

Laboratory Co. of America Company Profile

Labcorp Holdings Inc provides laboratory services. It operates through two segments, Diagnostics Laboratories and Biopharma Laboratory Services. The company offers various tests, such as blood chemistry analyses, urinalyses, blood cell counts, thyroid, PAP, hemoglobin A1C and vitamin D, prostate-specific antigens, sexually transmitted diseases, hepatitis C, microbiology cultures and procedures, and alcohol and other substance-abuse tests.