Barclays Cuts Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) Price Target to $234.00

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) had its target price trimmed by Barclays from $249.00 to $234.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the medical research company’s stock.

LH has been the subject of several other research reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $250.00 to $240.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Laboratory Co. of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $251.85.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE LH opened at $215.77 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $222.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $18.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America has a 52-week low of $191.97 and a 52-week high of $238.46.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The medical research company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.78 by $0.16. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $3.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America will post 14.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Laboratory Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total value of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares in the company, valued at $7,008,423.11. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Laboratory Co. of America news, EVP Der Vaart Sandra D. Van sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.99, for a total transaction of $3,359,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,008,423.11. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 29,679 shares of company stock worth $6,716,306. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Laboratory Co. of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 172.6% in the third quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 169 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. 95.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.