Kennebec Savings Bank Purchases New Shares in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH)

Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 188 shares of the medical research company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LH. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Laboratory Co. of America in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Laboratory Co. of America during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.94% of the company’s stock.

Laboratory Co. of America Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of LH stock opened at $243.92 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $223.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.44. Laboratory Co. of America Holdings has a twelve month low of $191.97 and a twelve month high of $247.99. The company has a market capitalization of $20.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.18, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.05.

Laboratory Co. of America (NYSE:LH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The medical research company reported $3.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. Laboratory Co. of America had a return on equity of 15.27% and a net margin of 3.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.38 EPS. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Laboratory Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LH has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. HSBC upgraded Laboratory Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com lowered Laboratory Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Laboratory Co. of America from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI cut 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 research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $255.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Laboratory Co. of America news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 31,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,008,423.11. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Glenn A. Eisenberg sold 15,000 shares of Laboratory Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $227.05, for a total value of $454,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,670 shares in the company, valued at $833,273.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,043,950 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

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.