Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van Sells 1,000 Shares

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.42, for a total transaction of $239,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $639,251.40. The trade was a 27.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Laboratory Co. of America Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of LH opened at $238.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.18, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $226.67 and a 200 day moving average of $217.61. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $247.99.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Laboratory Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group raised 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $255.92.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SouthState Corp purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the third quarter worth $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Laboratory Co. of America

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.