Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Grows Position in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE boosted its stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,514 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,379 shares during the period. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE’s holdings in Laboratory Co. of America were worth $2,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Insight Inv LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 3,530 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Athena Investment Management boosted its holdings in Laboratory Co. of America by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Athena Investment Management now owns 1,040 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Laboratory Co. of America by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,973 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Laboratory Co. of America by 5.1% during the second quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,089 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, SP Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America by 0.4% during the second quarter. SP Asset Management LLC now owns 15,096 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $234.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial upped their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Laboratory Co. of America from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Laboratory Co. of America from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $253.54.

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 news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 30,679 shares of company stock worth $6,946,306. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE LH traded up $1.64 on Monday, hitting $230.27. 21,514 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 665,797. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $222.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.44. The firm has a market cap of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.05. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a fifty-two week low of $191.97 and a fifty-two week high of $239.50.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 3.60%. Laboratory Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.38 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Laboratory Co. of America Holdings will post 14.55 EPS 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 1.25%. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.95%.

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.