Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Sells 4,835 Shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 34.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,103 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 4,835 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 185.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,453 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $973,000 after acquiring an additional 2,893 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 18.2% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 415 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 5.9% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,729 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 101,088 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $23,192,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 101,019 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $22,069,000 after buying an additional 14,708 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Price Performance

LH stock opened at $238.23 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $223.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.25. The company has a market cap of $19.93 billion, a PE ratio of 46.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 12-month low of $191.97 and a 12-month high of $247.99.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced 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 return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.53 EPS for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on 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. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Five 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 MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.92.

Insider Activity

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,273.50. The trade was a 35.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.47, for a total value of $1,506,835.83. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 87,441 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,189 shares of company stock valued at $2,190,936. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.