Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) from an in-line rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Evercore ISI currently has $265.00 price target on the medical research company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $260.00.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on LH. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 target price (up previously from $265.00) on shares of Laboratory Co. of America in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays increased their price objective 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. HSBC raised shares of Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $282.00 to $289.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Laboratory Co. of America has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.54.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 2.4 %

LH opened at $235.51 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $224.18. Laboratory Co. of America has a 1-year low of $191.97 and a 1-year high of $247.99. The stock has a market cap of $19.70 billion, a PE ratio of 45.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.06.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.38 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Insider Activity at Laboratory Co. of America

In related news, EVP Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 11,711 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.43, for a total value of $2,815,675.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,522,814.27. This represents a 27.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Adam H. Schechter sold 6,189 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 approximately $21,289,260.27. The trade was a 6.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 24,572 shares of company stock valued at $5,910,209 over the last ninety days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LH. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the second quarter valued at $73,928,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 16.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,865,460 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $416,893,000 after purchasing an additional 263,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 17.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,586,397 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $354,528,000 after purchasing an additional 230,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 9.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,930,395 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $431,405,000 after purchasing an additional 167,137 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.