Insider Selling: Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) EVP Sells $2,770,506.30 in Stock

Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) EVP Lance Berberian sold 12,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,921 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,647,501.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of LH opened at $226.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $208.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $210.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a PE ratio of 45.57, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a 1 year low of $191.97 and a 1 year high of $238.46.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.19 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.42 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 29th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 29th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.95%.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LH. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth about $5,838,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,310 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. Tobam increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 162.5% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 911 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 87,417 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $19,869,000 after buying an additional 10,997 shares during the period. 95.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LH shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $213.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $261.00 to $243.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.15.

About Laboratory Co. of America

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings operates as a life sciences company that provides vital information to help doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and patients make clear and confident decisions. It operates in two segments, Labcorp Diagnostics (Dx) and Biopharma Laboratory Services (BLS).