Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Lodestar Private Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 981 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LH. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 25.4% in 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 period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $416,893,000 after buying an additional 263,105 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 135.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,609,826 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $327,616,000 after buying an additional 924,881 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,417,645 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $288,519,000 after buying an additional 33,497 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP increased its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 928,250 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $188,908,000 after buying an additional 196,119 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Barclays raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial raised their price target 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. Bank of America raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.92.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock opened at $230.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $19.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $222.71 and its 200-day moving average is $212.87. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a one year low of $191.97 and a one year high of $239.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

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

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total value 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, Director Kerrii B. Anderson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.00, for a total transaction of $230,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,156,060. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 30,679 shares of company stock valued at $6,946,306. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Laboratory Co. of America 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.